Velodyne Lidar say they will introduce a new lidar unit with a target price of less than $500 and no moving parts.
Velodyne became a public company this past September, and are vying to supply automakers with lidar equipment. Velodyne were an early entrant into the market, and their lidars have powered research operations for many automakers. Now, Velodyne say their new Velarray H800 will have a target price of less than $500.
In an interview with Reuters, Velodyne CEO Anand Gopalan said the company are working with contract manufacturing partner Fabrinet to assemble test devices and that mass production will begin at a Fabrinet factory in Thailand by the second half of next year, with the H800 showing up in vehicles in 2022 or ’23.
The H800 uses solid-state technology and will be small enough to fit behind the windscreen. It can be put to use for self-driving vehicles or existing driver-assistance features such as emergency braking and lanekeeping assistance.