ADAS & Autonomous Vehicles Special Report - December 2024 - 23

VALEO
Q&A
Three's not a crowd when it comes to
ADAS sensors
F
or more on sensors, we spoke with Clement Nouvel, Valeo's
chief technical officer for lidar, about Valeo's background
in ADAS and what's coming next. Nouvel leads over 300
lidar engineers and the company's third-generation Scala 3
lidar is used on production vehicles from European and Asian
automakers. The Scala 3 sensor system scans the area around
a vehicle 25 times per second, can detect objects more than
200 meters (656 ft) away with a wide field of vision and
operates at speeds of up to 130 km/h (81 mph) on the highway.
In 2023, Valeo secured two
contracts for Scala 3, one with an Asian
manufacturer and the other with a
" leading American robotaxi company, "
Valeo said in its most-recent annual
report. Valeo has now received over
1 billion euros (just under $1.1 billion)
in Scala 3 orders. Also in 2023, Valeo
and Qualcomm agreed to jointly
supply connected displays, clusters,
driving assistance technologies and,
importantly, sensor technology for
to two- and three-wheeled mobility
efforts in India. Valeo's R&D director in
charge of strategy, Geoffrey Bouquot,
called the company, " currently the only
player on the market mass producing
an automotive lidar system. " Valeo first
installed its first- and second-generation
lidar sensor systems into autonomous
vehicles in 2021. These were the first
AVs in the world authorized to drive at
Level 3 autonomy, the company said.
Let's start with Valeo's
background in ADAS.
We started investing in lidar,
which we call Scala for " scaling
lidar, " about 13 years ago. And we
were first to the market with Level
3 technology. Our first was a Japanonly,
2021 Honda Legend with five
of our first-generation Scala units.
The second is the recently released
Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which is
operating at Level 3 in Germany
and in Arizona and California. So,
yes, we can say that Level 3 is
enabled only by Valeo and we have
a big head start in the industry.
Our latest-generation Scala lidar
offers higher [12 times better]
ADAS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES SPECIAL REPORT
" That's the bottom
line. Today, Level 3
requires lidar. "
resolution, three times better range [now more than 200
meters] and a wider viewing angle [2.5 times wider].
[Valeo claims the first-generation Scala system could
map 44,000 points per second, increasing to 260,000 for
Scala 2 and to 12.5 million points per second with Scala
3, creating point clouds that are as sharp as a photo.]
Valeo is a believer in all three ADAS technologies:
lidar, radar and cameras. But some companies aren't.
The key here is what technologies
do you need to enable the delegation
of the driving process to the car.
That's what we call Level 3, and if
you look at the industry, there is
large consensus that this requires
a tech triple: lidar, radar, cameras.
Each technology has its pros and
cons and, if I use a camera only, then
you would have issues at night or when
you're blinded by the sun. Radar has
its own shortcomings, and the same is
true of lidar. Those who are not opting
for lidar are actually not delivering
Level 3. That's what we need to keep
in mind. The main question is: do you
want to read books or watch a video?
If you really want the machine to be
responsible, then you cannot do that
with the right level of reliability and
safety without lidar. That's the bottom
line. Today, Level 3 requires lidar.
Clement Nouvel, Valeo's chief technical
officer for lidar.
How is Valeo different from its
competitors?
There are a lot of startups investing
in lidar. There's a large wave of lidar
coming from Chinese technology
and investments. But it requires
a huge investment to get lidar up
and running and make it profitable.
For the newcomers, it's extremely
difficult to keep up the pace.
Valeo is already at our third
generation of lidar. We've acquired a lot
of experience. We are probably the only
company in the world able to make
progress while not having to invent
new lidar technology, or make massive
investments. We are doing it step-bystep
and that's what sets us apart today.
John Dinkel
DECEMBER 2024 23
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicles Special Report - December 2024

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