Motional AD LLC’s Patents are Driving the Autonomous Vehicle Sector Forward
Is Motional leading the way in autonomous driving? Motional’s patents seem to say so. Motional is a product of a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv. Recently, Motional has partnered with both Uber Eats and Lyft to provide…
Nvidia – More than A Computer Company
In early November Nvidia, a computer systems design services company, announced its self-driving car platform will be powered by Luminar’s LiDAR sensors. This caused Luminar’s stock to soar more than 55% in premarket trading. Nvidia’s…
Light Sees the Light Better than LiDAR
Late October 2021, a company that develops smartphone camera tech has pivoted to using imaging technology in automotive applications. The company, Light, has developed an optical camera system that can calculate the distance to every pixel…
Aurora & FedEx – Package Delivery Deal Secured
Early October 2021, autonomous vehicle company Aurora had a patent publish for a LiDAR system. Recently, Aurora has been focusing specifically on the integration of LiDAR in autonomous trucks. Its main intention is to improve the…
Velodyne LiDAR Now in UAVs
Late September 2021, Velodyne LiDAR, Inc. signed a multi-year agreement to provide sensors to TOPODRONE. TOPODRONE is a Swiss-based company that produces aerial surveys. Velodyne’s sensors are top of the line and will enable TOPDRONE to…
GM & Cepton have Entered the {LiDAR} Chat
Another exciting week for LiDAR as Cepton, a smaller player in the space, is going public and already has customers knocking on its door. General Motors has made a deal with Cepton to begin installing Cepton-based LiDAR sensors in a range…
Waymo is Driving LiDAR’s Exclusivity
Waymo, an Alphabet company, has announced that it will no longer be selling its LiDAR technology as of August 26, 2021. Its client list is unknown however, it can be assumed this is a power play to reduce the amount of other companies with…
Apple’s Car is Moving Along
Late August 2021, Apple had a patent issue for “Enabling lidar detection.” Apple has 14 documents in the space, so we can see it is making progress. Many of us have heard or seen news relating to an Apple car; however, the car may be three…
Innoviz is Innovating LiDAR
Innoviz Technologies has announced a collaboration with Whale Dynamic, an autonomous driving company based in China. These companies are joining forces to integrate Innoviz’s high-performance, solid-state LiDAR sensors and perception…
Luminar Is Leading LiDAR? “You Betcha”
Luminar Technologies Inc. has announced that it will be acquiring OptoGration Inc., Luminar’s own InGaAs chip partner in an exclusive deal. These chips have been an integral part in the supply chain for Luminar’s sensors. Luminar acquired…
Volvo is Setting the Standard for Driver Safety, but Luminar is Bringing the Patents
As of late June, Volvo announced that its new XC90 electric SUV will be equipped with LIDAR as a standard safety feature. The sensors are developed by Luminar and are state-of-the-art, specifically made for this model vehicle. It plans on…
Velodyne Produces Cheaper Sensor, Luminar Should Check Its Blind Spot
It is not news that LiDAR sensors are beyond expensive… until recently. Velodyne Lidar is the leading manufacturer of LiDAR sensors and has developed a sensor that is one-hundredth the price of its typical sensors. This gives smaller…
Why did Giant Airbus Partner with Tiny Luminar? (Hint…patents)
Luminar is branching upwards, partnering with Airbus to bring LiDaR to autonomous aircraft. Airbus also has been developing LiDaR, as shown by its 12 issued patents. So, why does it need Luminar?…
Velodyne and Ansys Collaborate to Solve A/V Edge Cases
If you’re following Autonomous Driving, you probably already know that Velodyne and Ansys are collaborating to integrate vehicle LiDaR into a driving simulator. This will allow engineers to rapidly model the numerous edge cases that are…
Robotic Trucks Using Peripheral Vision. See For Yourself
Kodiak Robotics Inc is adding Hesai Technology Co’s LIDAR to its autonomous trucks for peripheral vision. The trucks will keep their one forward-facing Luminar LIDAR and add Hesai LIDAR on each side of the truck. Although a Silicon Valley…
Things are Looking Good for Unicorn Aeva
Aeva Inc. makes a 3D LIDAR that detects the velocity of distant objects, which is especially useful for trucks because they need a longer stopping distance. TuSimple makes self-driving trucks and has been testing Aeva’s sensor since…
Waymo lands $2.25B and releases self-driving electric 5Gen Jaguar
Waymo is launching. A fresh $2.25 billion external investment round validates its plan and progress and will help to expand its offerings, the most exciting of which is a self-driving Jaguar electric I-Pace, which it just announced will…
Blickfield Debuts Full-Suite LIDAR
Munich-based LIDAR giant Blickfeld has stated that they will present their long-range, high-fidelity automotive sensing suite- including their Cube and Cube Range - as well as a live car demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Convention…
Blickfeld and Koito Partner to Develop Headlight-Integrated LiDAR
German LiDAR technology provider Blickfeld announced its partnership with Koito Manufacturing for exploring technologies to develop a LiDAR sensor that can be fully integrated into a headlight. Blickfeld’s compact, 3D solid-state…
General Motors’ early start in the LIDAR patent sector
General Motors has been a leading force in LIDAR technology since at least the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, where the company was one of the sponsors for the Challenge's heavy favorite to win, Carnegie Mellon's "Red Team." Due to technical…
Amazon’s New Delivery Robot
Amazon announced that it will begin field testing it's new delivery robot, Scout, in Snohomish County, Washington, with Prime customers. It's telling that Amazon's first delivery robot in the wild is on wheels, not propellers.
Amazon’s Modular LIDAR system
Amazon's LIDAR system is specifically applied to drones, but what about cars? Well, Amazon recently announced a self-driving food delivery vehicle developed in partnership with Toyota.
Vision System to Recognize Pedestrian Intention
University of Michigan researchers are interpreting body language to determine a pedestrian's intention. The system processes lidar and stereo camera images to estimate not just a person's trajectory, but their pose and gait. Pose can…
Ouster wins CES 2019 Innovation Award for LIDAR technology
LIDAR startup Ouster, highlighted by Magic Number in November when the company's first patent application published, had a series of applications publish this week detailing its mechanical solutions to low-cost LIDAR technology. Ouster's…
Ouster focuses on low cost, mechanical LIDAR units
Bay Area startup Ouster creates low cost, mechanical LIDAR units that it hopes will drive autonomous vehicles from a luxury to an everyday tool. Coinciding with the publication of several of its patent applications, the company…
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