In particular, the military's robotics program used the company's ANVEL robotic vehicle simulation software to explore the performance of unmanned systems. Also, Quantum Signal developed algorithms that guided the military's autonomous vehicles.

In his announcement, Ford Chief Technical Officer Randy Visintainer said the company's expertise will give the automaker a way to create comprehensive simulation environments that it can use to test its autonomous vehicles. Quantum Signal's expertise in sensing and perception systems will be put to good use, as well.

"All of [the company's] work can be repurposed to support Ford's self-driving vehicles to help improve their ability to analyze the environment around them," he wrote. In other words, Quantum Signal will support Ford in various areas. The QS team, which will be joining the automaker, will work on both software development and hardware prototyping to help ensure that Ford can truly deploy its first self-driving car fleet in 2021.