Ford acquires robotics company Quantum Signal

Ford announced that it has acquired mobile robotics company, Quantum Signal. The company develops software that allows it to remotely control robotic vehicles from thousands of miles away.

While Quantum Signal has operated in relative obscurity over the past couple of decades, its work has been on the radar at Ford for a while now. Over the past few years, Ford has been assembling a team of uniquely qualified experts in software development, simulation and machine learning from all around the world as it accelerates autonomous vehicle development.

Ford will make use of Quantum Signal's extensive experience in real-time simulation and algorithm development to develop its Transportation as a Service (TaaS) platform, as well as vehicle controls that support the customer experience, functional safety and other vehicle systems. The wide range of the group's work portfolio means it will be able to support Ford in numerous areas as the company develops self-driving vehicles and transportation as a service business, including software development and hardware prototyping.

Quantum Signal is renowned for its ANVEL modeling and simulation environment, which has been used by military robotics programmes to explore the performance of unmanned remote and autonomous systems. With the company's expertise, Ford can develop even more comprehensive simulation environments in which the automaker can test its vehicles and business model in order to achieve further performance improvements.

Beyond simulation, Quantum Signal has done extensive work for the military in developing algorithms that help guide autonomous vehicles. 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 analyse the environment around them.

Quantum Signal will play a crucial role in advancing Ford's self-driving vehicle development while also representing the company's commitment to nurturing the talent needed to successfully deploy this technology.