Autonomous vehicle sensor startup Aeva Technologies Inc said on Thursday their sensors can detect other vehicles from a distance of more than 500 meters and pedestrians from a distance of more than 350 meters.
Reported by Reuters on Friday (7/5), Aeva made a lidar sensor that helps cars get a three-dimensional road map and can also detect the movement of objects in the distance, helping to distinguish stationary objects such as trees and pedestrians or cyclists.
Aeva has an agreement with automotive supplier Denso Corp and ZF Friedrichshafen AG for the mass production of its sensors.
The detection range of the lidar sensor is a key metric for automakers because a longer detection range means self-driving vehicles have more time to make decisions, especially at higher speeds.
Other companies such as Aeye Inc, whose shares were bought by German auto supplier Continental AG last year, said that they can detect other vehicles at a distance of 300 meters.
The lidar sends out a laser beam and detects the reflections as they bounce back from the surrounding environment to produce an image. The main challenge is detecting dark objects that don’t reflect much light.
Aeva said the proprietary chip that has been developed allows the sensor to detect objects with a reflectivity below 10 percent at a distance.
“We aim to offer a combination of performance and scalability that we believe is unmatched in the industry,” said Aeva co-founder and chief technology officer Mina Rezk in a statement.
