The 2011 Ford Edge will use Wi-Fi technology to wirelessly download Sync software.
It’s becoming a wireless world, so why not the vehicle assembly line as well.
Ford says it is the first automaker to use Wi-Fi to send software to vehicles along an assembly line. The automaker is sending infotainment software to Wi-Fi-enabled MYFord Touch-equipped vehicles.
Ford installed the Wi-Fi equipment at its Oakville, Ontario, plant where it builds the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, both of which were refreshed for 2011. Next up for Wi-Fi updates will be the upcoming Ford Explorer, built in Chicago, and then plants that build the Focus around the world.
Wi-Fi capability eliminates the need for building, stocking multiple SYNC hardware modules, thus reducing manufacturing complexity and saving cost.
“Using wireless software installation via Wi-Fi, we can stock just one type of SYNC module powering MyFord Touch and loaded with a basic software package,” explained Sukhwinder Wadhwa, SYNC global platform manager. “We eliminate around 90 unique part numbers, each of which would have to be updated every time a change is made – this system really boosts quality control.”
But turning a factory into a Wi-Fi hot spot was not easy.
“Turning an assembly plant – with steel beams everywhere and high-voltage cabling throughout; everything you could imagine that would interfere with a radio signal – into an access point that would achieve 100 percent success was a huge challenge,” Wadhwa said.
Now that Ford is installing infotainment software wirelessly, could wireless transmission of engine management software be far behind?
The 2011 Ford Edge is the first vehicle to have its infotainment software sent to the vehicle wirelessly.
“The infotainment system (SYNC) is completely separate from the engine control computer, so it’s not possible at this time,” a Ford spokesman said.
The Wi-Fi system allows the Edge to serve as a hot spot for up to five users who connect through the user’s mobile broadband card. Additionally, the system can pick up WiFi signals at locations such as coffee shops and share it with others in the vehicle.
Click here to read the about the 2011 Ford Edge first drive.