The Dearborn automaker said it plans to increase its team of researchers, engineers and scientists from 130 to 260 by the end of 2017. The specifics of how much money Ford and Baidu have each invested have not been disclosed. The investment is expected to allow Velodyne to rapidly expand the design and production of automotive LiDAR sensors, which the investors hope will accelerate the availability and mass adoption of self-driving vehicles.
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The investment, announced early Tuesday by the Silicon Valley tech firm, is meant to speed development of laser-based sensors and broaden its use in advanced driver assistance systems and eventually in self-driving cars. Those systems are among the core components of self-driving vehicles and essentially help those cars detect everything from other cars to the lane the auto is supposed to be in. “We are determined to help improve the goal of safety for automotive vehicles as soon as possible, as well as empower the efficiency autonomous systems offer”.
“We want the cost to be low enough to be used for all cars”, Marta Hall, Velodyne’s president of business development, said in the statement.
The investment is being made in a California company called Velodyne LiDAR.
General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also have inked high-profile deals with Silicon Valley-based companies this year as Detroit and Silicon Valley have begun to increasingly embrace strategic partnerships.
The companies are putting up $150 million to fund a supplier of laser sensors, which can help self-driving cars navigate.
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Ford opened its Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto, Calif.in January 2015. The moves are the latest by CEO Mark Fields to reposition Ford into a full-fledged mobility company.
