ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - January 2023 - 5

Cover Story
Luminar claims it has steadily reduced OEMs' cost (at volume) for the Iris system to the $500-to-$1,000 range. A significant cost reduction
came from a mixed-signal ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) developed in-house that delivers higher performance than complex
ADC (analog-to-digital converter) chips, according to the company.
radars and eight cameras - to deliver 360-degree views
around the electric SUV.
A camera in the EX90's interior handles driver
monitoring. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) that
can detect not only driver inattention, but also driver
intoxication or medical impairment. The camera works
in conjunction with a cabin-focused onboard radar
capable of detecting the breathing of occupants, from
a strapped-in infant to a slumbering pet, to ensure
nobody is accidentally left behind.
Lidar's detection benefits
Elon Musk has been lidar's most-famous skeptic,
branding it as a " crutch " and a " fool's errand. " But Musk
now stands nearly alone among automakers and automated-driving
tech experts who see a profusion of
redundant onboard sensors as a good thing.
The cameras Tesla relies on almost exclusively
can struggle in darkness, poor weather or blinding
light, especially when trying to make sense of broad
surfaces, noted Matthew Weed, Ph.D, an optical
scientist, engineer and product director at Luminar.
Imagine staring at a featureless wall, where only the
edges stand out, he offered.
In contrast, the Luminar Iris can detect and
classify objects to a maximum range of 600 meters
(1969 ft.), even at night. It can spot a pedestrian or
animal darting across the road at up to 250 m (820
ft.). It can " see " an errant tire in the road, or other
small objects, at up to 120 m (394 ft.). And where the
acuity of laser-based vision systems typically degrades
through snow or rain, the Iris technology does so very
gradually, Weed told SAE Media.
" You might lose some light energy when lidar
hits snowflakes, but you still get enough back to get
a useful, fundamentally 3D image, " he explained. If
radar sensors struggle to definitively acquire an object
ahead, or bird poop fouls a camera lens, lidar remains
a trusty backstop.
" Even if you then lose the lidar, you've still stored
the last few frames of environmental info, " Weed noted.
" You still know the few hundred meters in front of you
and can make reasonable assumptions of where and
where not to operate. "
To a software integrator, lidar " lets you take steps
of responsibility that other automakers haven't yet
road-mapped, " he asserted.
Integration solutions
Ödgärd Andersson, CEO of the Volvo-owned autonomous
software company Zenseact, said the redundancy
engineered into the EX90's perception system will help
future Volvos solve tricky " edge cases " and make realtime
decisions without such glitches as phantom braking.
" You have to have enough confident data to be
able to act on it, " she said. " We can now see in scenarios
that are very difficult for humans, including nighttime
when there are statistically far more accidents. "
Based on its voluminous, half-century-old
database of real-world accidents, Volvo confidently
asserts that the lidar-based sensor suite - in tandem
with new core computing and software - will reduce
ADAS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
January 2023 5
Luminar

ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - January 2023