Ford acquires defense contractor to get robot rides on road

Bloomberg

As Ford Motor Co bears down on a self-imposed deadline to field robotaxis and driverless delivery vehicles in two years, the automaker has acquired a small defense contractor whose experience could help get auto-piloted cars on the road.
Ford paid an undisclosed sum to acquire Quantum Signal AI, a 40-member team of roboticists operating out of a decommissioned 1930s-era high school in Saline, Michigan, just up the road from the University of Michigan. The 20-year-old firm has experience working with the US military on sniper simulations and remote-controlled sentinel robots.
Ford sees those skills as a perfect fit for the unpredictable and often chaotic world its autonomous vehicles will need to navigate with its promised self-driving business in multiple US cities. It’s hoping Quantum Signal will help it avoid potholes that have delayed a robotaxi service by General Motors’s Cruise unit and limited the range of Alphabet affiliate Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing operations.
“The number one priority is 2021, it’s all about getting that done,” Randy Visintainer, chief technology officer of Ford’s autonomous vehicle unit, said. “When we first set that target, we knew this was a very, very hard problem and we weren’t going to be able to do it alone.”
Quantum’s simulation and robotics experts will join forces with Argo AI, Ford’s self-driving partner, and Ford’s own researchers, Visintainer said.
Ford turbocharged its autonomous ambitions by forming a new alliance with Volkswagen AG, the world’s largest automaker, to develop self-driving cars. VW agreed to contribute $2.6 billion to Argo, giving that autonomous startup a $7 billion valuation. The move has vaulted Ford and VW into the pantheon of self-driving leaders along with Waymo and GM Cruise.
Yet, Ford’s track record with tech acquisitions is mixed. Last week, Ford wrote down nearly the entire $182 million investment it made in Pivotal
Software, a cloud computing startup, and earlier this year it shut down Chariot, a ride-hailing shuttle service it acquired in 2016 for $65 million.
Visintainer insists this acquisition will be different because Quantum has a clear mission to create simulations and robotic controls that will guide Ford’s robotaxis and self-driving delivery vehicles. “We know exactly where they’re going to fit into our business and how they’re going to help us move our business forward,” Visintainer said. “They’re not a startup; they’re an established company with a proven track record. We already have growth plans for them.”
Those plans call for Ford to leave Quantum Signal alone for the most part. Ford said it won’t change the company’s name and isn’t making Quantum staffers vacate their vintage high school, where they store equipment in old student lockers that line the hallways and have been known to use the gymnasium to conduct field tests. The small company will still operate independently, with its own human resources department, and continue to be run by co-founder Mitchell Rohde.
“One of the things we found attractive about Quantum is the culture and how they attract
the type of people who wouldn’t necessarily come to Ford,”
Visintainer said.