Ford self-driving partner in sensor deal

Argo AI, the start-up partnering with Ford to develop self driving cars, has acquired Princeton Lightwave, a company with extensive experience in the development and commercialization of LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors.

These sensors are crucial to creating a three-dimensional view of the world that helps autonomous vehicles identify where they are on the road and detect other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

Bryan Salesky, CEO, Argo AI, said: “With the addition of the Princeton Lightwave team, Argo is uniquely positioned to innovate in both sensor hardware and the interface between sensor and software — enabling us to achieve performance improvements that would not otherwise be possible.

“Princeton Lightwave’s technology will help us unlock new capabilities that will aid our virtual driver system in handling object detection in challenging scenarios, such as poor weather conditions, and safely operating at high speeds in dynamic environments.”

The Argo AI team is committed to developing a virtual driver system that’s mandated for SAE levels four and five autonomous driving — meaning there’s no driver behind the wheel.