The DVN-Lidar Deep Dive II, held at Wiesbaden on 6 June, focused on short- and long-range lidar requirements, and innovations in optics.
With 40 participants registered, we had a large group of experts from automakers; lidar tier-1s; electronics makers, and optics specialists. All had the opportunity to discuss technical issues in small working groups, then share with the larger group.
There were six speakers, representing automakers and tier-1 and -2 suppliers—including a Chinese speaker. Here we bring you a summary of the presentations:
Torc Robotics: Application of Lidar for L4 Automated Trucks
Sebastian Renken · lidar sensor development engineer
• Motivation (including driver shortage) and business case for driveless trucks
• Hub-to-hub driverless long-haul operation (US highways)
• Sensor suite includes ultralong- (300m); long-, and short-range (40m) lidars
• Lifetime targets: 3-4 years of operation; >25,000 hours; >1.4 million km
• ODD definition: scenarios; critical use cases, recordings from the field
• “Near Collision with Lost Cargo happens statistically 1-2 times over lifetime of a class 8 truck in the U.S.”.
LS Lidar: An Overview of Lidar Applications
Millie Yang · overseas market director
• Development status of lidar and scanning technologies: mechanical; MEMS; hybrid solid-state; optical phased array…
• LS Lidar products for shuttles; robotaxis, coöperative ITS applications
• Performance of 1,550-nm lidars: high resolution and point density
• Light sources, such as fiber lasers, are 80 to 85 per cent of the cost
• System-on-chip solution lowers cost
• “Lidar is the eye of autonomous systems; hybrid solid-state is still the mainstream”
Continental: Short Range Lidar—A Field of View Analysis for SAE Level 4
Robert Klarer · lidar perception release train engineer
• Parking: curb along the car; parking manœuvre in narrow space, VRUs nearby
• Design compromsie: rate/resolution/range and photon power budget
• Specs: 40m @ 0.3-0.45° resolution; ambitious 140-180°H ×100°V FoV
• Frame rate: 20Hz minimum to detect pedestrian crossing street at the last minute
• “The market price for a short-range lidar is around €100 – €200”.
Continental: Short Range Lidar—A Field of View Analysis for SAE Level 4
Wolfgang Schulz · lidar perception product owner
• Short-range applications for trucks (long haul operation) & robotaxis (urban traffic)
• Trucks: how to manage the manœuvre inside the hub and when exiting the hub
• Critical use cases: minimum-risk manœuvre; traffic jam when entering the hub
• Automated parking applications: parking in/out; mapping of stalls/slots, ramps
• Possible sensor suite integration for cars; robotaxis, trucks
• “The truck business is expected to be the first real application of short-range lidar; it will come soon”.
Cepton: Introduction to Short-Range Lidars
Henri Häfner · director of product management; marketing, and business development
• Typical specifications for short- (40m); mid-, long-range (200m+)
• High resolution and large FoVV to detect objects on road and overhanging load
• Specs: 120° × 90° FoV and min range detection < 0.1m
• Proprietary SoC (Kommodo) to reduce costs & packaging size
• “Lidar is the only technology to combine high resolution of 0.3° and large FoVV, and which can support object classification like the camera”.
Docter Optics: Precision-Moulded Lidar Optics in Volume
Hagen Schweitzer · head of optical design development
• Design process including importance of thermal simulation and optimization
• Cost reduction; aspherical lenses reduce lens count
• Isotherm glass moulding for high precision; non-isotherm for low cost
• Combination of cheaper non-isotherm moulding with DOCµTEC (×10 precision)
• Miniaturization: integrating the receiver inside the lens
• “Optics must deal with a 50-mm maximum lidar aperture height”.
Suss MicroOptics: Miniaturizing Lidar Systems with Microöptics
Wilfried Noell · senior principal scientist
• Ultra-compact microprojector (BMW’s door-side light carpet)
• Microlens arrays in headlamps
• Silicon photonic applications with microlenses (in production for data centers)
• Microöptical applications for beam shaping; collimation and SPAD receiver
• Wafer-level microöptics with lenslets up to ø1mm
• Collimating lenses of silicon and glass
• Integrated microlenses for prism
• “There is a big opportunity for microöptics in lidar applications”.
Strong consensus emerged during the Deep Dive regarding short-range lidar applications:
• Short-range lidar requirements are converging toward a 40m range and a 0.2°- 0.3° resolution for trucks; robotaxis, and passenger cars (auto-valet parking)
• Driverless trucks: 25,000-hour lifetime can be achieved with VCSEL technology
• Automated parking: there is no alternative to short-range lidar to cover all critical use cases
• Optical design offers new opportunities to optimize packaging and costs • Market price around €100 – €200 is the target; €100 might still be too expensive for auto-valet parking
