NEWS & TECHNOLOGY PHOTONICS
Lidar technology market is facing
shakeout, study says
By Christoph Hammerschmidt In a comprehensive report, technology consulting firm
IDTechEx presented its findings from the observation of 107
manufacturers of vehicle lidar systems. Central perception:
The market has more than enough technology alternatives to
offer; suppliers who enter the market for the first time will have
a hard time.
Lidar is a sensor technology that enables vehicles to perceive
their surroundings, make decisions and navigate. 3D lidar
systems scan the environment with light beams and create a
virtual model of the environment from the measurement of beam
reflections. This model is used by vehicle electronics to detect
and identify objects and to develop a driving strategy based on
the knowledge gained. Most car manufacturers consider 3D lidar
to be indispensable for automated driving (including levels 3
and 4) and have established partnerships with suppliers of lidar
technology. One notable exception is Tesla - the Elon Musks
company believes it can do without lidar.
According to IDTechEx experts, the most well-known player
is the US company Velodyne, known in 2005 for its mechanical
rotating lidar HDL-64. Velodyne’s first MLA (micro-lidar
array) product, Velarray, was announced in 2017, followed by
VelaDome in 2019, which is designed for close-range operation,
while Velarray offers object detection at long range. The
new non-rotating technology for the automotive industry uses
a 128-channel VCSEL light source. It is based on 905nm ToF.
The scanning mechanism is not known; IDTEchEx assumes an
electromechanical approach.
Another big name in this market is the Canadian company
LeddarTech. The company offers lidar modules, but the main
focus of the company is the LeddarEngine SoC together with
related software. The company has recently launched the Leddar
Pixell 3D flash lidar module, which is optimized for proximity
detection and blind spot coverage in urban environments, and
this strengthens the company’s position in the autonomous
shared mobility market.
Quanergy, a Californian start-up founded in 2012, rose to
fame by developing the world’s first optical phased array (OPA)
3D lidar for the automotive industry. In recent years, Quanergy
has shifted their attention to non-automotive markets following
challenges and delays they faced in the automotive industry. It
is an important question as to whether Quanergy has made the
right technology choices in its OPA system or not. The choice
of 905nm brings the benefit of using a well-established light
source and detector, but the SiNx OPA platform might be slow
and present significant heat management issues. The lack of
a foundry ecosystem may also push Quandary to take on too
many tasks. One brightest young star in this market is Innoviz,
an Israeli start-up founded in 2016 with the aim of developing
and commercializing 3D lidar based on MEMS mirror beam
steering. It counts Magna International amongst its investors.
In the past three years, Innoviz accumulated an impressive
$252 million USD and secured a contract with BMW to supply
the InnovizOne product in 2021 for a BMW production vehicle.
InnovizOne is positioned as an automotive grade MEMS-based
lidar module. The question is now whether it will finally gain
commercial adoption or not.
A rather new player on the scene is Livox. They are set up
by the Chinese drone maker DJI and seem to be following the
same strategy: offering a compelling price in order to drive others
out and force an industry consolidation. This is a tempting
strategy given that there are so many players and technologies
today and that most offerings are too expensive and only promise
future cost reductions, say the IDTechEx experts. The lidar
is also ToF operating at 905nm. Their Mid-40 lidar with 38.4
degrees of field of view, 0.05-0.1 angular resolution and 260m
is using a rotating prism. The interesting point here is that DJI
- thanks to its drone business - has excellent know-how and
capability in designing the motors, which are often a cost and
reliability bottleneck. They have already received a 5k unit order
and completed 13k hours of reliability testing running 24/7.
As competition intensifies in the automotive lidar market, it
seems likely that some start-ups will not survive. Oryx Vision
is the first high-profile casualty: the Israeli 3D lidar business
closed in August 2019 despite having secured $67 million
USD in funding. Oryx publicly stated delays in the automotive
industry as an important factor in the decision to end operations.
IDTechEx however believe that their unusual and complex
lidar architecture was the main reason. Oryx Vision described
their lidar design as ‘coherent flash’ technology; it operates at a
wavelength of 10 micrometres that common and cost-effective
lasers cannot produce.
The report also examines the companies that already succeeded
in securing a contract with a global car manufacturer.
Major automotive OEMs prefer to obtain lidar technology for
their autonomous production vehicles via trusted Tier 1 partners.
The general trend in the automotive industry is that Tier
2 suppliers develop new lidar technologies, while Tier 1 suppliers
optimize these products for high-volume production. For
example, Valeo Scala technology was originally developed by
Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH. Valeo developed Ibeo’s lidar
into a mass-produced sensor for Audi. Similarly, Innoviz has
partnered with Magna, the Canadian Tier 1 supplier, and Magna
will deliver automotive grade lidar modules to BMW.
Ibeo is now developing a 905nm ToF lidar using SPAD
detectors which require multiple measurements to build up
the picture but give out a digital signal. Their design includes
a VCSEL array and an SPAD array (12800 pixels and emitters).
They have three ASICs which allow them to control the system
and generate specific patterns on the VCSEL without the need
to flash the entire scene. That enables them to boost the range
to 250m even though the system architecture and components
are similar to a flash lidar. The IC placement and assembly are
also relatively straight forward allowing high level of automation.
In general, this puts them on a good cost-reduction path which
may mean that the lack of a scanning mechanism could be
compensated by multiple lidars. Ibeo is working with their investors
ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
However, a minority of Tier 1 suppliers and automotive OEMs
develop their own lidar technology.
8 News April 2020 @eeNewsEurope www.eenewseurope.com
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