LiDAR News: Levandowski, Aeva, DENSO, Ouster, Outsight, Argo, Valeo, Hyundai, Velodyne

World IP Review: The outgoing Trump administration has granted a full pardon to Anthony Levandowski, the former LiDAR head at Waymo, sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets.

In a memo, released on January 20, 2021, the administration says Levandowski “paid a significant price for his actions and plans to devote his talents to advance the public good.”

It also cited a quote from the sentencing judge in the case in which he described Levandowski as a “brilliant, groundbreaking engineer that our country needs.”

BusinessWire: Ouster and Outsight partner on the first integrated solution in the lidar industry with embedded pre-processing software. This plug-and-play system is designed to deliver real-time, processed 3D data and designed to be integrated into any application within minutes. The solution combines Ouster’s high-resolution digital lidar sensors with Outsight’s perception software which detects, classifies, and tracks objects without relying on machine learning.

Reuters: DENSO partners with Aeva to develop next-generation sensing and perception systems. Together, the companies will advance FMCW LiDAR and bring it to the mass vehicle market.

MSN, GroundTruthAutonomy: Argo.ai presents its new platform featuring 6 LiDARs and 11 cameras. Some of the versions even have a multi-storied LiDAR pyramid on the roof:

ETNews reports that Hyundai is contemplating using Valeo SCALA LiDAR in its first autonomous vehicle scheduled to release in 2022. The reason for choosing Valeo is quite interesting:

"This decision is likely based on the fact that Velodyne has yet to reach a level to mass-produce LiDAR sensors even though it is working with Hyundai Mobis, which invested $54.3 million (60 billion KRW) in Velodyne, on the development. 

Velodyne received an $50 million investment (3% stake) from Hyundai Mobis back in 2019. Although it stands at the top of the global market for LiDAR sensors, a supply of automotive LiDAR sensors for a research and development purpose is its only experience with automotive LiDAR sensors. It is reported that it has yet to reach Hyundai Motor Group’s requests due to its lack of experience with mass-production of automotive LiDAR sensors. Although it was planning to supply LiDAR sensors that will be used for a level 3 autonomous driving system, its plan is now facing a setback.

Velodyne is currently working with Hyundai Mobis at Hyundai Mobis’s Technical Center of Korea in Mabuk and is focusing on securing its ability to mass-produce automotive LiDAR sensors while having the sensors satisfy reliability that future cars require. The key is for Velodyne to minimize any different in qualities between products during mass-production

Valeo is the only company in the world that has succeeded in mass-producing automotive LiDAR sensors. It supplied “SCALA Gen. 1” to Audi for Audi’s full-size sedan “A8”. SCALA Gen. 1 is a 4-channel LiDAR sensor and it has a detection range of about 150 meters."