ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023 - 12

Sensors
A nighttime on-road demonstration of Adasky's system
showed that it can detect objects and their relative distances
in crowded traffic conditions.
As managing director of the MCity ADAS and autonomous-driving
research facility, Greg McGuire sees industry
thinking in progress as autonomous technology develops.
Luneberg antenna. The latest generation of their 3-D
printed antenna is 25% smaller, with a radius of 30mm.
" Our sensor solution is a really a patented process
to design and mass produce these Luneberg antennas, "
said CEO John Xin. He claimed that the company is
the only one in the world " that has ability not to only
design but also mass produce these. "
Xin says that standard radar as used in automotive
Jason Ferns, who oversees Innovusion's lidar for autonomous vehicles program,
shows the high-resolution point cloud generated by its Falcon lidar.
application. In February of 2022, SAE Media reported
that OEMs expected to pay around $1,000 per unit for
lidar. Gertel said Opsys' system was significantly less
than those expectations. MCity's McGuire said that
eventually, he expected scale and OEM demands to
drive down the cost of sensors to around $100.
Of course, part of the test of any supplier is the
ability to manufacture at scale. To that end, Sunnyvale,
California-based Innovusion delivered 50,000 of its lidar
units to BEV maker Nio in 2022. A spokesperson said
the company has the capacity to produce 300,000 units
in 2023. It's latest product, Falcon, has an exceptionally
long range of 250m (820 feet) for 10% reflectivity and a
maximum range of 500m (1600 feet), which is longer
than many see as necessary.
Spherical radar for fewer placements
Arizona-based Lunewave is banking on its betterthan-standard-radar
system based on the spherical
12 April 2023
is only effective in detecting within an arc of 15 to 20
degrees. That's why automakers have, so far, compensated
by placing as many as 20 to 30 sensors on vehicles.
He says the Luneberg lens' spherical construct " really
means that we bring with a single radar, consistent
high performance across a wide field of view, not just
on the Azimuth or the XY plane field, but also vertical.
Xin said the company is collaborating with a
German OEM to deliver their latest generation device
in support of SAE Level 3 autonomous operation.
" It's an unprecedented 160 degrees in azimuth and 90
degrees in elevation with a single radar, " he revealed.
Xin said Lunewave sensors, even if more
numerous on a given vehicle, come with lower signal
processing needs. " Because the spherical antenna is
made up of (unidirectional) receptors, the angle calculations
are already done on the hardware side. " Xin
said cost savings would come from needing far fewer
sensors per vehicle.
MCity's McGuire is intrigued when looking at the
technology, which operates at a relatively high 77GHz.
" We've done some research with the older lower-frequency
radars, " which he said can make it tough to
distinguish stationary objects from moving cars and
ADAS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
Chris Clonts
Chris Clonts
MCity
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023

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