Apple was serious about partnering with BMW for Project Titan in 2017- maybe because Steve Jobs, its iconic founder, loved his BMW. Which LiDAR company will invoke similar passions for the I-Car as it starts gathering steam once again? Given Apple’s pioneering efforts in integrating LiDAR into personal computing and smartphones, it is interesting to explore their potential choices for the I-Car.
From an article in Forbes by Sabbir Rangwala.
The requirements for an I-Car LiDAR (I-LiDAR) are likely to be centered around performance, reliability, data quality and monetization, styling and vehicle integration. Cost is not likely to be a major driver.
The LiDAR currently deployed in Apple consumer devices use 9XX nm VCSELs (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers) and SPADs (Single Photon Avalanche Photodiodes). It is a flash LiDAR device with limited resolution, Field of View (FoV) and range – great for indoor mapping and photography, but not really deployable for a safety application in an autonomous vehicle. The architecture is compelling from a styling and size perspective – the absence of messy mechanical scanners enables sleek integration, without the LiDAR appearing prominent or visible. Extending the performance and reliability of this architecture into automotive applications like L3 (conditional automation) and L4 (full automation in a prescribed operational domain) was discussed in a recent article. Similar to Apple, Sense Photonics, Opsys, ZF-Ibeo and Ouster use VCSELs and SPADs in the 8XX-9XX nm wavelengths, but extend range, FoV and PPS (points/second, similar to resolution in a camera) performance. Sense’s LiDAR uses no scanning (flash LiDAR), whereas Ouster, ZF and Opsys deploy electronic scanning with no mechanically moving parts. The absence of mechanical scanners enhances reliability and enables graceful vehicle integration – although the range and PPS performance of 9XX nm systems is likely to be more limited than 14XX-15XX nm systems because of eye-safety constraints.
For the complete article CLICK HERE.
Note – If you liked this post click here to stay informed of all of the 3D laser scanning, geomatics, UAS, autonomous vehicle, Lidar News and more. If you have an informative 3D video that you would like us to promote, please forward to editor@lidarnews.com and if you would like to join the Younger Geospatial Professional movement click here.
