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Valeo’s 3rd gen lidar sensor opens the door to autonomous driving

Valeo’s 3rd gen lidar sensor opens the door to autonomous driving

Technology News |
By Christoph Hammerschmidt



The higher performance of the new lidar sensor is mainly due to the increase in range, resolution and frame rate. With 25 images per second (4.5 million pixels), the sensor draws a real-time 3D image of the vehicle’s surroundings. Compared to the previous generation, the resolution has been increased by a factor of 12, the range by a factor of 3 and the viewing angle by a factor of 2.5.

With its infrared beams, the Lidar “sees” things that are beyond the detection capability of humans, optical cameras and radars. This, according to Valeo, allows driving to be delegated to the vehicle in many situations on motorways and motorways at speeds up to 130 kmph, enabling automation levels of more than 2 on the SAE scale. Even emergency situations can be handled autonomously by an ADAS equipped with it, says Valeo.

Valeo’s scanning lidar detects, recognizes and classifies all objects located around the car. If the objects are moving, it captures their speed and direction. The scanning lidar can adapt to all light conditions and even measures the density of raindrops to calculate the right braking distance. It tracks nearby vehicles, even when they are no longer in the driver’s line of sight, and uses algorithms to anticipate their trajectories and trigger the necessary safety maneuvers.

Thanks to these features, Valeo’s new scanning lidar also protects people around the vehicle, such as pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. Beyond the vehicles it equips, this lidar will alert, via the cloud, other vehicles of road hazards so that the community benefits from its exceptional perception capabilities.

Valeo designs and manufactures the entire system, including the hardware, the software and the associated artificial intelligence, the “brain” that combines collected data and enables the vehicle to instantly make the right decision. Its software automatically adapts to the environment and improves its performance over time through regular updates.

Valeo’s lidar sensor systems are produced in Germany at Valeo’s Wemding plant in Bavaria. The plant’s production lines draw on Valeo’s state-of-the-art expertise in optics, mechanics and photonics. 300 engineers at Valeo are dedicated solely to this technology, for which over 500 patents have been filed. Availability is scheduled for 2024.

Valeo claims to be the first, and to date remain the only, company to produce a scanning lidar on an industrial scale. It has already produced over 150,000 units and 99% of cars equipped with a scanning lidar scanner worldwide are equipped with a Valeo scanning lidar.

Up to 30% of premium new vehicles are set to reach level 3 automation by 2030, and to do so will need to be equipped with lidar technology, most automotive experts (save Tesla, by the way) are convinced. As well as cars, autonomous shuttles, robotaxis, delivery droids, autonomous trucks or the agriculture, mining and infrastructure sectors will need to be equipped with one or more lidars. The lidar market is expected to represent more than $50 billion by 2030.

www.valeo.com

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