In an effort to accelerate autonomous vehicle adoption, Ford and Baidu have invested $150 million in Light, Detection, and Ranging (LiDAR) firm Velodyne.
Typically used to make high-resolution maps, LiDAR is a surveying technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser light. Data is then used to create high-resolution 3D digital images used for mapping, localization, object identification, and collision avoidance.
"LiDAR continues to prove itself as the critical sensor for safe autonomous vehicle operation," Velodyne CEO David Hall said in a statement.
The investment will allow Velodyne to expand production of automotive LiDAR sensors, "making them widely accessible and enabling mass deployment of fully autonomous vehicles," Hall added.
Ford and Chinese search giant Baidu are no strangers to self-driving technology.
In January 2014, Ford teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University to work on automated car tech. Last summer, the company appointed Randy Visintainer director of autonomous vehicle development.
Around the same time, Baidu partnered with BMW and announced plans to put self-driving cars on public roads in China by the end of 2015. In December, a modified BMW 3 Series successfully completed testing on Beijing highways.
Velodyne's LiDAR solutions were previously tested in Google's self-driving cars, and have been incorporated into mobile mapping vehicles by Nokia Here, Bing Maps, TomTom, and more.
"From the very beginning of our autonomous vehicle program, we saw LiDAR as a key enabler due to its sensing capabilities and how it complements radar and cameras," Ford Chief Technical Officer Raj Nair said.
Jing Wang, senior vice president and general manager of Baidu's autonomous driving unit, said his company is developing self-driving cars "with the intention to increase passenger safety and reduce traffic congestion and pollution."
Velodyne expects an increased presence of LiDAR sensors in autonomous vehicles over the next several years.