Ford Acquires Robotics Defense Contractor Quantum Signal
Photo: Ford Motor Company
Ford on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Quantum Signal, a Michigan-based defense contractor key in the development of software that allows the military to remotely control robotic vehicles over great distances. Quantum Signal will now aid Ford in its efforts to commercialize autonomous vehicles at scale by 2021.
The move was announced by Ford Autonomous Vehicles Chief Technical Officer Randy Visintainer in a post on Medium, which specified Quantum Signal’s role in the development of its Transportation as a Service platform and self-driving vehicle controls. Quantum Signal’s ANVEL grew out of a partnership between the team and U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Center in 2007, allowing users to remotely operate unmanned vehicles among other things.
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Quantum Signal’s three key focuses are mobile robotics, robotics simulation, and strategic pogroms. With respect to the former most of the three, QS develops intelligent algorithms “that help robots perceive their world, plan paths through it, detect and avoid obstacles, identify roadways and interpret road signs, and much more.” These algorithms will come in handy for Ford autonomous vehicles as well as innovations like Digit, the delivery robot the automaker co-developed with Agility Robotics.
“Outside the software world, the company is well-versed in robotics as well as sensing and perception systems. All of this work can be repurposed to support Ford’s self-driving vehicles to help improve their ability to analyze the environment around them,” writes Bisintainer.
Ford expects the its acquisition of Quantum Signal will have a similar effect as its acquisition of Israel-based machine learning company SAIPS, which has doubled in size and moved into a new headquarters in Tel Aviv in the past three years.
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