Ford and ADT Team Up to Create Canopy, a Car Accessory That Alerts Drivers of Theft and Vandalism

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 18 January 2022, 05:01 pm

Ford and ADT, a company that builds security and alarm monitoring services for homes and businesses, have teamed up to create Canopy to fix the vulnerabilities in-vehicle security offerings.

Ford and ADT Vehicle Accessory

Canopy will offer an accessory that can be attached onto a car in order to monitor the surroundings and alert the drivers of theft or vandalism, according to ABC.

Although built-in car alarm systems can help minimize the risk of theft, they are not 100% foolproof. In 2020, the FBI revealed that $7.4 billion was lost to car theft, including the theft of cars themselves and the contents.

Canopy's product, distributed to some trucking companies in the United States and cargo vans in the United Kingdom since last year, wants to combine Ford's camera systems expertise with ADT's monitoring service to help both retail and commercial customers avoid theft.

Also Read: Ford Announces New Focus Manufacturing Plans, Shifts Production From Mexico To China

Canopy is ADT's first project that focuses on automotive security. It is a product of FordX, the automaker's new venture incubator that collaborates with other companies to build, acquire and launch new technologies for transportation.

In 2018, FordX teamed up with Jelly, a company that sells dockless e-scooter. Jelly is the basis for the car company's acquisition of Spin.

Canopy is Ford's next project and is included in its strategy to expand its portfolio of mobility solutions outside of its traditional business lines, according to The Washington Post.

How Canopy Works

Canopy's accessory works with any car model, and it is expected to be sold at various stores and online by 2023. The accessory relies on several sensors, including radar, acoustic sensors, and cameras, to collect data about the car's surroundings.

An operating system will then process the data and will share it back to the cloud servers through Wi-Fi or LTE. Any thefts will be reported to the car owner through a mobile app or to one of ADT's monitoring agents.

In TechCrunch's interview with Leah Page, VP of mobile security and strategic projects at ADT, she said that ADT wants to help in bringing AI solutions to its products. Once something happens, it comes into ADT, and the monitoring agents know how to handle it.

The monitoring agents can alert the owner or emergency contact, and they can also alert the police.

In the near future, Canopy wants to release another monitoring system that integrates into the vehicle's hardware and will rely on the cameras and sensors to perform the same features.

Ford is Canopy's first integration, but the company aims to have all the technology available to all automakers.

Christian Moran, the director of FordX and interim CEO of Canopy, said that to make the offer meaningful to its customers, they had to do it to enable them to address the security concerns for cars that are already being used.

Moran added that they are looking at one solution that can run across several vans, trucks, and cars, targeting to do that in the next few years.

Meanwhile, ADT is working on keeping the technology and the brand, as it filed a trademark last year after it accused Amazon of copying its symbol.