This is significant because Ford announced earlier this year that it will invest $1 billion in Argo over the next five years. Both Argo AI and Princeton Lightwave have expertise in LiDAR, a laser-based sensing system that functions as the "brains" of autonomous vehicles.
"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," said Bryan Salesky, CEO, ARGO AI, an a statement.
Argo AI was co-founded last year by Salesky, who previously worked on Google's autonomous car project veteran Bryan Salesky and Uber engineer Peter Rander, a former Uber engineer.
Princeton Lightwave's technology will help Argo move forward in handling object detection in challenging scenarios, such as fog, heavy rain and snow and safely operating at high speeds.
Ford's investment in Argo AI comes as General Motors is testing autonomous versions of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle with Cruise Automation, a San Francisco startup GM acquired in 2016. GM and Cruise have test fleets on the roads of metro Detroit, San Francisco, Scottsdale, Arizona, and will begin testing in New York City next year.
©2017 the Detroit Free Press Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
