Velodyne Displays Solid State, Highest Performing LiDAR for ADAS

Solid State and the Highest Performing LiDAR in the World will Drive ADAS and Autonomy in 2018.

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SAN JOSE, Calif.--()--Velodyne LiDAR Inc., the world leader in LiDAR sensors, will demonstrate several LiDAR products including two revolutionary LiDAR which will transform the world of transportation. One can see a demonstration of the Solid State Velarray, the smallest LiDAR, in a form factor that can be concealed behind windshields, within roof lines, and in bumpers. It is the highest performance LiDAR for ADAS today, with quality standards of a Velodyne.

A must-see at the CES Velodyne booth #3525 in the North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention is the VLS-128 LiDAR, the LiDAR which will navigate for fleets of autonomous vehicles in 2018. The Velodyne VLS-128 has the highest resolution and longest range, and it is considered the world’s highest performing LiDAR in the world today. It can be seen in action at the booth. Fleets of cars throughout the United States have already been seen testing autonomy and soon will sport the VLS-128 for enhanced navigation and safety.

“We have customers that demand the best perception systems for their fully autonomous vehicle programs, and the VLS-128 delivers. Other customers seek ADAS L2-4 functionality from our consumer-grade Velarray LiDAR, which provides the power of Velodyne perception in a format perfect for vehicles today. These leading-edge sensors, along with Velodyne’s broader product portfolio and over 500 employees across five offices, highlight our unmatched scale in real-time 3D LiDAR research, development, and manufacturing,” said Mike Jellen, President and CCO of Velodyne.

“We expect 2018 to be a watershed year for both Velodyne and the industry, laying the foundation for autonomous vehicle deployments around the world in just a few years,” Jellen continued. “At CES 2018, Velodyne will showcase the LiDAR that will be seen on the first wave of autonomous vehicles, as well as new LiDAR use cases that take advantage of Velodyne’s high-resolution, long-range sensors.”

Velodyne borrowed from the streets of Switzerland, a NAVYA autonomous Mini-Bus that currently navigates with three Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR. The NAVYA Cab seats 1-6 passengers, driving up to speeds of 30 MPH on roads. (For faster speeds, the company plans to upgrade to a higher resolution, longer range LiDAR. It is well understood that the faster the speed of a vehicle, the more important it is for the “3D eyes” of the car to be of the highest performance.) The Cab is available at the booth to explore inside and out!

Velodyne shows off use case examples at the booth with customers as the technology leads the global movement towards advanced safety and driverless cars. Examples are listed below.

Velodyne will highlight news, key products, and customer achievements during an in-booth press conference on Tuesday, January 9, at 3:30 pm PST.

Taking center stage in Velodyne’s booth will be demonstrations of new LiDAR sensors that expand the use case for autonomous vehicles, allowing for rapid mass deployment and increased testing in new environments.

  • Velodyne VLS-128: Velodyne’s recently announced VLS-128™, with its industry-leading 128 laser channels and best-in-class sensing for autonomous vehicles, will showcase the trifecta of long-range, high-resolution, and the widest surround field-of-view. It’s the only sensor that allows autonomous vehicles to function just as well at highway speeds as low-speed urban environments.
  • Velodyne Velarray: This solid-state LiDAR enables hidden and low-profile sensing for a range of ADAS and autonomous applications. Velarray™ features an industry-leading 3D field of view in a small form factor. It’s a cost effective, high performance LiDAR, with revolutionary technology.
  • Velodyne VLP-16: One of the most widely adopted LiDAR sensors ever made has received a 50 percent price reduction, allowing for its continued expansion of use worldwide. The new pricing is a direct result of large-scale manufacturing at Velodyne’s Megafactory, which leverages advanced automation to build a range of LiDAR sensors.

Cutting Edge Customer and Partner Solutions

Within its booth, Velodyne will showcase a range of exhibitions and demonstrations from its broad ecosystem of hundreds of customers and partners that are developing new use cases for advanced LiDAR technology, including NAVYA, AGC, AutonomouStuff, Paracosm, mapper.ai, and Deep Maps.

  • NAVYA’s AUTONOM CAB, the first fully autonomous taxi on the market, will be shown for the first time in the United States in Velodyne’s booth. Able to carry 1-6 passengers, AUTONOM CAB revolutionizes mobility in cities worldwide by providing an intelligent transport service for individual trips in urban centers, while placing an emphasis on interactions and comfort. It is equipped with one of the most advanced sensor architectures on the market, with no fewer than 10 LiDAR sensors, six cameras, and four radar units. The NAVYA team can also be found at Tech East – Gold Lot – North Plaza NP-9.
  • Dibotics, a pioneer in real-time LiDAR processing (SLAM on Chip), will showcase the latest features of its Augmented LiDAR technology using VLP-16, VLP-32, and HDL-32C sensors: precise Localisation and Ego-motion without requiring IMU, Live 3D Mapping, Point-wise Classification, Object Detection and Tracking, and "Calibration-less" Multi-LiDAR Fusion.
  • AGC – a world-leading supplier of flat, automotive and display glass, chemicals, and other high-tech materials and components – will showcase windshield technology from its new WIDEYE task force, which is focused on autonomous vehicles. Combined with the Velarray sensor for an interactive demo in Velodyne’s booth, WIDEYE’s infrared transparent automotive glass provides an ADAS and autonomous solution that’s fully protected and totally hidden inside the vehicle cabin.
  • DeepMap will showcase its high-definition (HD) mapping and localization platform for autonomous vehicles in Velodyne’s booth. The company’s maps empower autonomous vehicles with a precise understanding of their 3D environment, enabling safer and more reliable transportation.
  • Paracosm President Amir Rubin will showcase the integration of Velodyne’s VLP-16 Puck sensor into PX-80, a handheld 3D scanner that captures three-dimensional documentation of large-scale indoor and outdoor spaces in minutes.
  • Mapper has created a globally scalable ecosystem for on-demand creation, validation, and maintenance of centimeter-accurate 3D Machine Readable (MR) maps, which will be shown in Velodyne’s booth. Mapper acquires map data themselves, with a 100 percent coverage guarantee on public roads and delivers daily-updated maps to customers at a fraction of the cost of other methods without requiring any data back.

CES 2018 Press Conference and Booth Schedule

Velodyne’s press conference will take place in Booth #3525 in the North Hall on Tuesday, January 9, at 3:30 pm PST. Space is limited, so please email pr@velodyne.com to RSVP.

Tuesday, January 9

  • 11 am-12 pm: DeepMap presentation
  • 1:30-2:30 pm: Paracosm presentation
  • 4:30-5:30 pm: Mapper presentation

Wednesday, January 10

  • 11 am-12 pm: Mapper presentation
  • 1-2 pm: AutonomouStuff presentation
  • 4-5 pm: DeepMap presentation

Thursday, January 11

  • 10-11 am: Dibotics presentation
  • 11 am-12 pm: AutonomouStuff presentation
  • 2-3 pm: Paracosm presentation
  • 4-5 pm: Dibotics presentation

Friday, January 12

  • 11 am-12 pm: AutonomouStuff presentation

For more on Velodyne LiDAR at CES and to download press releases, photos and videos, visit www.velodynelidar.com. To schedule a product demo for VLS-128 or Velarray, email pr@velodyne.com.

About Velodyne LiDAR

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, Velodyne is a technology company known worldwide for its real-time 3D LiDAR computing and software platforms. The company evolved after founder/inventor David Hall developed the HDL-64 Solid-State Hybrid LiDAR sensor in 2005. Since then, Velodyne LiDAR Inc. emerged as the unmatched market leader of real-time 3D vision systems used in a variety of commercial applications including autonomous vehicles, vehicle safety systems, mobile mapping, aerial mapping, and security. Its products range from the high-performance, surround view Ultra-Puck™ VLP-32, classic HDL-32/64 and cost-effective VLP-16, to the upcoming, hidden Velarray™. Velodyne’s rich suite of perception software and algorithms are the key enablers of its perception systems. Velodyne supports customers from offices in San Jose, Detroit, Frankfurt, and Beijing. For more information, visit http://www.velodynelidar.com.

Contacts

Velodyne Lidar Inc.
Andrew Hussey, 408-966-5078
Communications Director
ahussey@velodyne.com

Contacts

Velodyne Lidar Inc.
Andrew Hussey, 408-966-5078
Communications Director
ahussey@velodyne.com