Lidar sensor manufacturer Hesai has partnered with Lumentum, a provider of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays for 3D sensing and other applications, to develop hybrid solid-state directional lidar solutions for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
While conventional lidar approaches have been challenged by high costs and poor manufacturability, according to the partners, incorporating VCSEL array light sources can significantly improve lidar cost competitiveness and scalability.
‘As the automotive industry transitions from the testing phase for AVs to the mass volume production phase for ADAS applications, cost and manufacturability are the biggest challenges the industry faces,' said Dr David Li, co-founder and CEO of Hesai. 'We are pleased to be collaborating with Lumentum on our hybrid solid-state lidar AT128 for ADAS applications, which contains an all-VCSEL-based design to achieve high-affordability, and automotive grade reliability and consistency requirements.'
Lumentum president and CEO Alan Lowe added: 'We are excited to leverage our leading-edge multi-junction VCSEL array capabilities and manufacturing scale in working with Hesai to help enable innovative, cost-effective, and high-volume lidar solutions.'
Hesai's AT128 is a hybrid solid-state directional lidar that features a 200m range at 10 per cent reflectivity, high point density (>1.5M points per second), and small form factor. Each AT128 incorporates 128 of Lumentum's high-power multi-junction VCSEL arrays emitting at 905nm.
High-volume shipments of the AT128 into multiple existing ADAS OEM design-wins are expected to begin in 2022.
According to Lumentum, over the past few years more than a billion of its VCSEL arrays have been deployed in mobile, consumer electronics, industrial, and other applications creating significant manufacturing economies of scale. At the same time, the firm’s advancements in VCSEL array technology have resulted in increased peak optical power densities and efficiencies, making Lumentum’s VCSEL arrays suitable for high-performance ADAS and AV applications.
