Author: Velodyne LIDAR Official News

News Coverage: Velodyne Adds Mapper’s Software to Advance Lidar-Centric ADAS

News Coverage: Velodyne Adds Mapper’s Software to Advance Lidar-Centric ADASJuly 29, 2019|In Media Coverage|By Albie Jarvis

Lidar can enhance advanced
driver-assistance systems (ADAS) by delivering perception data that provides
real-time free space detection in all light conditions.

Velarray™
is the first solid-state Velodyne lidar sensor that is embeddable and fits
behind a windshield, as an integral component for superior, more effective
ADAS.

Eric Walz wrote
an article in FutureCar about the news that Velodyne Lidar acquired
high-definition mapping and localization software, as well as intellectual
property assets from Mapper.ai. Mapper technology will enable Velodyne to
accelerate development of Vella™,
a groundbreaking advanced driver assistance solution that builds upon the
directional view Velarray sensor.

In discussing Velodyne technology in the FutureCar story, Dr.
Nikhil Naikal, founder and CEO of Mapper, said:

“Velodyne has both created the market for high-fidelity
automotive lidar and established itself as the leader. We have been Velodyne
customers for years and have already integrated their lidar sensors into easily
deployable solutions for scalable high-definition mapping.”

In a story
on the Mapper news, Gilbert Shar of Auto Connected Car News, quoted
Velodyne CTO Anand Gopalan saying:

“The goal in the automotive market is to make transportation
safer. By adding Vella software to our broad portfolio of lidar technology,
Velodyne is poised to revolutionize ADAS performance and safety.”

Mapper’s entire leadership and engineering teams will join
Velodyne, bolstering the company’s large and growing software development
group. An
Automotive World story, quoted Gopalan discussing this move:

“Expanding our team to develop Vella is a giant step towards
achieving our goal of mass producing an ADAS solution that dramatically
improves roadway safety. Mapper technology gives us access to some key
algorithmic elements and accelerates our development timeline. Together, our
sensors and software will allow powerful lidar-based safety solutions to be
available on every vehicle.”

Other media outlets that wrote about the Mapper news include
Autonomous
Vehicle International, Autonomous
Vehicle Technology, Green Car
Congress, LED
Inside and The
Robot Report.

To read the complete FutureCar article, please go to: Velodyne
Acquires HD Mapping Startup Mapper.ai to Advance its Lidar-based Driver Assist
Software.

To review the Auto Connected Car News story, please see: Velodyne
Buys Mapper.ai.

The Automotive World story can be found here: Velodyne Lidar acquires Mapper.ai for ADAS launch

For Velodyne Lidar products click HERE.

News Coverage: Velodyne and Kaarta Technologies Team for Fast, Easy Surface Mapping.

July 24, 2019 Lidar technology can enable ground surface mapping solutions that help city governments plan for infrastructure improvements as well as parking and traffic management. Spencer Chin wrote a FierceElectronics story about how Kaarta has included Velodyne’s lidar technology in the new Kaarta Stencil 2-32 ground surface mapping solution. He noted that Stencil 2-32… Continue reading News Coverage: Velodyne and Kaarta Technologies Team for Fast, Easy Surface Mapping.

Velodyne Lidar Acquires Mapper.ai for ADAS Launch

July 22, 2019 Velodyne adds Mapper’s mapping and localization software to advance revolutionary lidar-centric ADAS In addition to ADAS, Velodyne will incorporate Mapper technology into lidar-centric solutions for other emerging applications, including autonomous vehicles, last-mile delivery services, security, smart cities, smart agriculture, robotics, and unmanned aerial vehicles.  Velodyne Lidar, Inc. today announced it has acquired… Continue reading Velodyne Lidar Acquires Mapper.ai for ADAS Launch

Blue City Technology’s Quest to Outsmart Traffic with Lidar

Blue City Technology’s Quest to Outsmart Traffic with LidarJuly 11, 2019|In Blog|By Albie Jarvis
Blue City Technology provides traffic monitoring solutions using Velodyne Lidar technology

Crossing a city street can be a challenging, and
sometimes dangerous, experience. Enabling pedestrians and bicyclists to make it
safely across a street has an important role in shaping the accessibility and
livability of a city.

Blue City Technology is on a mission to improve the
safety and efficiency in road networks by providing data through innovative
sensing technologies. They work with city planners to create safer crossings
and intersections with their lidar-equipped traffic monitoring solutions. Their
solutions enable safe crossings of walkers and cyclists, and bring attention to
upcoming vehicles of road users crossing an intersection.

To learn more about Blue City Technology, we asked the
company’s CEO Asad Lesani to discuss the inspiration behind Blue City
Technology and its solutions, and how they began working with the City of
Montreal on a Smart City pilot project.

Asad Lesani, CEO, Blue City Technology

VL: Please share with our readers how you became interested
in transportation systems and safety, and what led you to start Blue City
Technology?

Asad Lesani: Like nearly everyone who interacts
with traffic lights on a daily basis, we were annoyed by their obvious
inefficiencies. No one likes sitting at a red light when there’s no traffic crossing
the road, and there’s no use in a green light when traffic is stopping you from
crossing the intersection anyway. Two of our co-founders have backgrounds in
electrical engineering and have their finger on the pulse of sensing
technologies. This led us to wonder why new technologies like lidar aren’t
being used to solve issues like these.

VL: What are the challenges presented by available
traffic monitoring systems and what’s your vision for creating a more effective
intelligent transportation system?

Lesani: There is always
traffic, it doesn’t matter if it’s day or night, sunny or snowing. If a traffic
light is dependent on a sensor, it needs to work in all of these conditions. Only
a limited selection of sensors can handle these conditions. These existing sensors
are only good at specific tasks; inductive loops can detect the presence of a
vehicle and radar can provide estimations of traffic speed. However, they can’t
provide everything needed for truly efficient traffic control. With lidar, we will collect speed and counts for each
possible turning movement, class of vehicle, and the number of vehicles waiting
for a light to change.

We think it’s inevitable that traffic lights will be
coordinated across a city. With our sensors, traffic lights will be able to
predict the arrival of vehicles, know how many and how long vehicles are
waiting for the light to change, and be able to autonomously update their
lighting schedule based on this information. This will minimize the average
time vehicles are waiting for the lights to change and the time it takes
vehicles to move across town. This will have a positive impact on emissions,
productivity of the city, and quality of life.

VL: How did you get introduced to Velodyne lidar
technology and why did you choose to use it in your traffic monitoring solutions?

Lesani: When we were looking for a technology that
could see at night, and through rain and snow, Velodyne’s lidar was something
we were aware of from reading about autonomous vehicle projects. This use in vehicles
gave us confidence in Velodyne’s dependability. If they can survive being
shaken while driving down a road, being on stationary pole shouldn’t be an
issue.

Velodyne was also very helpful while we were doing
research on different technologies and ended up being the most promising
technology. Its sensors give us the resolution we need for classification, and precision
for determining location and speed, all while being tolerant to changing
weather and lighting conditions.

VL: How did Blue City Technology begin working
with the City of Montreal with a traffic monitoring pilot project?

Lesani: Studying in the transportation lab at
McGill, we were exposed to people working on transportation in the city,
through projects and through former labmates who work there. Montreal is
interested using technology to solve issues in transportation; we are really
glad to be in a city that’s willing to try new things and encourages companies
that are trying to grow here.

VL: What’s next for Blue City Technology?

Lesani: Our plan is to show our technologies to as many cities as possible. This way, they will learn what’s possible and we will learn what various regions and teams need to so we can continue to refine the technology to best help them.

For Velodyne Lidar products click HERE.

Lidar Enables Full Autonomy and Safe Driver Assistance Systems

Lidar Enables Full Autonomy and Safe Driver Assistance SystemsJune 26, 2019|In Media Coverage|By Albie Jarvis

Lidar was called “the key technology to enable both full
driving autonomy as well as safe driver assistance” in a Frost
& Sullivan white paper.

Matt McFarland of CNN Business wrote
a story about the industry’s continuing conversations on the role of sensor
technologies – lidar,
cameras and radar – in self-driving vehicles and cars with advanced driver
assistance systems (ADAS), spurred by Tesla CEO Elon Musk comments dismissing
the need for lidar.

The article discussed fatal accidents involving Tesla cars, which
are not equipped with lidar. In both incidences, the cars crashed into
tractor-trailers that were turning in front of the Tesla vehicles.

One independent expert commenting in the story was John
Dolan, a professor at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, who
said in the article:

“The system would be better and have higher reliability
if it included lidar. It’s definitely going to see a large truck or vehicle
that’s crossing in front of you.”

Commenting on Musk’s remarks, Velodyne Lidar President &
CBDO Marta Hall said, “I like Elon, I like his spirit and I relate to his
passion. But I don’t like the irresponsible talk.”

To read the complete story, please go to: https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/17/tech/lidar-self-driving-tesla/index.html

For Velodyne Lidar products click HERE

Lidar Has Pivotal Role in Autonomous Vehicles

June 26, 2019 Lidar technology provides capabilities “essential for accurately locating the vehicle within its environment and planning its driving path,” noted a Frost & Sullivan white paper. Levi Sumagaysay of The Mercury News wrote an article about the industry dialogue on lidar and autonomous vehicles, which was sparked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk questioning… Continue reading Lidar Has Pivotal Role in Autonomous Vehicles

Inside Look on Velodyne Products and Their Applications

Inside Look on Velodyne Products and Their ApplicationsJune 18, 2019|In Media Coverage|By Albie Jarvis

Lidar technology is fundamental to vehicle autonomy,
safety, and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

David E. Zoia, Editorial Director at WardsAuto, wrote
about Velodyne’s latest lidar
products and their applications
in the Wards Intelligence story “Velodyne
Says Nearing Mass Production of Forward-Facing Lidar.”

In looking at Velodyne and its lidar products, Zoia
wrote, how the company “continues advancing the technology even as it keeps an
eye on the rest of the field in its rearview mirror.”

Zoia spoke with Marta Thoma Hall, President & CBDO of
Velodyne Lidar, who reviewed the state of lidar technology, mass production of
Velodyne sensors, lidar’s role in improving vehicle safety and more.

In discussing safety, Hall noted, “What we want to do
with our ADAS system is to cut down on 90% of accidents, which are caused by
front-facing accidents. This will actually save lives. This will not be a
comfort or convenience feature. We plan for it to be a safety system.”

Keep an eye on how lidar addresses the stringent safety requirements for vehicle autonomy and ADAS. To read the complete story, please go to (subscription required): https://subscribers.wardsintelligence.com/technology/velodyne-says-nearing-mass-production-forward-facing-lidar

Download the article in PDF form HERE:

Velodyne Says Nearing Mass Production of Forward-Facing LidarDownload

For Velodyne Lidar products click HERE

Velodyne Features Advanced Lidar for Port Terminal Automation at TOC Europe

June 14, 2019 Velodyne Integrator DGWorld Showcases Advanced Vehicle Automation DGWorld’s technology taps Velodyne’s rich computer perception data to help determine the safest way to navigate and direct autonomous vehicles. Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Stand A50) will demonstrate how its smart, powerful lidar solutions can advance port terminal automation at TOC Europe in Rotterdam, 18-20 June.… Continue reading Velodyne Features Advanced Lidar for Port Terminal Automation at TOC Europe

Velodyne Lidar Wins Patent Challenge

June 11, 2019 Velodyne won a patent challenge brought by competitor Quanergy.  Jan Wolfe of Reuters reported, the “U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board on May 23 rejected arguments by Quanergy that a Velodyne patent on LiDAR technology was invalid on obviousness grounds.” In writing about the decision, Yining Chen LEDinside… Continue reading Velodyne Lidar Wins Patent Challenge

Lidar Powers Unmanned Ground Vehicles in Mining Site Applications

Lidar Powers Unmanned Ground Vehicles in Mining Site ApplicationsMay 21, 2019|In Media Coverage|By Albie Jarvis
Clearpath’s Husky robot, equipped with the Puck by Velodyne Lidar

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) are being called upon to address
a broader variety of tasks. They increasingly work autonomously and their
abilities to traverse changing and unstructured environments are improving.

Mobile mapping, surveying, and inspections of mining
sites are examples of this trend as noted in Mining Magazine, which wrote a story
about how Clearpath Robotics solutions utilize Velodyne’s state-of-the-art lidar sensors.

In the article, Chris Brogdon of Clearpath states:

“Various research and corporate organizations are
currently using UGVs, such as our Husky mobile robot, and lidar sensors to
develop autonomous robotic systems for remote inspection, mapping and surveying
of mine sites. These platforms are capable of producing high resolution 3-D
scans of mine sites and underground mines.”

Lidar sensors are proving to be a
valuable addition to UGVs to handle challenging automation tasks and flawlessly
function in unfamiliar and unpredictable settings.

The full story can be read here:

https://www.miningmagazine.com/innovation/news/1362074/robotics-in-the-mining-age

Robitics in the Mining AgeDownload

For Velodyne products click HERE