Ford enlists robots to drive trucks in tests too tough for humans

Even in an era where most large automakers have a supercomputer available to help design vehicles, there's still no alternative to putting hundreds of thousands of miles on a new model to shake out glitches before it goes on sale. That has always meant a cadre of bleary-eyed test drivers who work endless hours running laps on proving grounds — until Ford came up with a way to have its vehicles test themselves through robotics that don't need caffeine.

Ford says it developed its new system, a first in the industry, in part because the tests for some of its truck models had grown so strenuous they posed a danger to drivers who ran them too frequently. All automakers have similar tracks with everything from gravel to speed bumps to pothole-strewn pavement that can mimic years of wear in a few months of constant driving — but because of their severity, the human drivers were limited to running them only once a day.