Here’s a look at who they are and what they’ll contribute. The aim is to quickly mass-produce a more affordable automotive LiDAR sensor.
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The investment will go towards lowering the production costs of the Velodyne’s LiDAR sensors, laser based sensors that perform similar to radar, to help accelerate its adoption into connected vehicles, according to an August 16 press release.
Velodyne: Silicon Valley-based company which specialises in light detection and ranging sensors. Michelle Krebs with autotrader.com says GM has been grabbing all the headlines recently “and Ford can’t be happy about that, especially as some Wall Street analysts have wondered if Ford is falling behind in future mobility”.
In order to help achieve this 5 year target for a mass-produced driverless vehicle, Ford is making a number of significant technology investments.
Raj Nair, Ford’s Chief Technical Officer said that the company will probably sell driverless cars without any steering wheel or pedals to individual consumers for private use around 2025.
Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC: The auto manufacturer has an exclusive licensing agreement with the machine vision business.
The company said the automobile would be used by customers by 2021.
For example, Ford does not have a ride-sharing partner as GM does in Lyft, Krebs said.
Civil Maps: Ford has invested in the organisation to further develop high-resolution 3D maps.
Automakers are racing to achieve full-self driving autonomy and it looks like Ford wants to be the leader of the pack. Located adjacent to Ford’s Research and Innovation Center, the campus will comprise two new buildings and 150,000 square feet of work and lab space.
Shares of Ford Motor (F) were higher in mid-afternoon trading on Wednesday as UBS analysts said the carmaker’s plans to offer a driverless vehicle by 2021 put Ford ahead of many competitors “for now”, according to Barron’s.
In order to accomplish this task, Ford is investing in a number of start-up companies that are working on autonomous vehicle development, and it will double its own team working on the project in Silicon Valley. That has changed: Ford has recently made a point of talking about its high-tech connections – and a point of ramping them up.
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The latest announcement is considered a significant development.
