Mobileye will shut down their FMCW lidar development unit by year’s end, lurching around 100 employees. It’s because the company now considers FMCW lidar ‘less essential’ for achieving L3 eyes-off systems, thanks to imaging radars, which are improving, and time-of-flight (ToF) lidar systems, which are dropping in cost.
Nevertheless, Aeva, in partnership with Nikon, plans to start mass production soon of FMCW lidars to be used by Daimler Trucks starting in a couple of years. They’re doing so because autonomous trucks need lidars with 300m+ of range, which is difficult to achieve with ToF lidars. And Honda has invested in SiLC for FMCW development, as well.
So at the moment it looks like ToF lidar technology could predominate in cars and AVs for the foreseeable future, but it’s certainly not yet time to hold a funeral for FMCW. In this issue of your DVN-Lidar Newsletter, we bring you details and coverage of all of this.
Upcoming DVN-Lidar Events 2024-25:
- Lidar Conference in Wiesbaden, 18-19 November
- Lidar Deep Dive II in Stuttgart, 8-9 April
- Lidar Tech Expo in Hangzhou, 4-6 June (DVN co-hosts with Enmore)
- Lidar Deep Dive III in Detroit, 9-10 September (combined with DVN Lighting Workshop)
We’re ever so glad you’re here with us in the DVN-Lidar community. Enjoy this 31st newsletter!
All the best,
Alain Servel
DVN LIDAR ADVISOR