Ford Apps Competition – Caravan Track Wins

In an effort to create new on-the-road tools, Ford, U of Michigan, and Intel all got together about a year ago to create a project they called American Journey 2.0. The Journey 2.0 project was the jumping-off point for the "Cloud Computing in the Commute" class at the U of M – a class focused on creating new social networking applications for use in Ford cars. The winner of this competition class was Caravan Track – an application that can be used in the Ford Fiesta research automobile.

How Caravan Track works

The winner of the application contest was a program named Caravan Track. Caravan Track is a social network / internet / wifi application that helps members of a caravan keep track of one another. When signed to the Caravan Track system, it will monitor everything from road hazards to fuel level of all autos on the trip. Caravan Track will even inform the entire caravan of restaurants, rest areas and other stop-over points of interest. Messages are pre-programmed into the touch screen, making certain the driver keeps their eyes on the road.

The other five Ford App competition competitors

There were six teams in the competition to create the best Ford American Journey 2.0 application. Despite the fact that Caravan Track won the title, all five of the other applications have excellent promise. By matching up potential carpool passengers, GreenRide Challenge hopes to be able to lower total trip miles traveled. Self-reported road hazards give users of NostraMap the chance to keep away from the worst road hazards. Fuel Tracker gives real-time feedback on fuel economy and mileage for a specific route. Intended to build a database of interests over time, Point-of-Interest provides details on restaurants, businesses, and other locations that a driver could be interested in visiting. “Listen. Speak. Rate. Share.” is an app built to provide and share audio reviews for points of interest along a driver’s route.

Ford Fiesta with Caravan Track

A Ford Fiesta headed for Silicon Valley can be loaded up with multiple research projects, including Caravan Track. On the way to the Maker Faire, this research Fiesta will attempt to report on the trip and use social networking to make the trip easier. Makers of Caravan Track and also the other competitors within the U of M class will probably watch this trip very closely.

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