'pologies - internet dropped outHi @Diogenese
The following is an extract from Luminar's 28.2.23 Annual Report:
Adjacent Markets Adjacent markets such as last mile delivery, aerospace and defense, robotics and security offer use cases for which our technology is well suited. Our goal is to scale our core markets and utilize our robust solutions to best serve these adjacent markets where it makes sense for us and our partners.
Our Products
Our Iris and other products are described in further detail below:
Hardware Iris: Iris lidar combines laser transmitter and receiver and provides long-range, 1550 nm sensory meeting OEM specs for advanced safety and autonomy. This technology provides efficient automotive-grade, and affordable solutions that are scalable, reliable, and optional for series production. Iris lidar sensors are dynamically configurable dualaxis scan sensors that detect objects up to 600 meters away over a horizontal field of view of 120° and a software configurable vertical field of view of up to 30°, providing high point densities in excess of 200 points per square degree enable long-range detection, tracking, and classification over the whole field of view. Iris is refined to meet the size, weight, cost, power, and reliability requirements of automotive qualified series production sensors.
Iris features our vertically integrated receiver, detector, and laser solutions developed by our Advanced Technologies & Services segment companies - Freedom Photonics, Black Forest Engineering, and Optogration. The internal development of these key technologies gives us a significant advantage in the development of our product roadmap.
Software Software presently under development includes the following:
Core Sensor Software: Our lidar sensors are configurable and capture valuable information extracted from the raw point-cloud to promote the development and performance of perception software. Our core sensor software features are being designed to help our commercial partners to operate and integrate our lidar sensors and control, and enrich the sensor data stream before perception processing.
Perception Software: Our perception software is in design to transform lidar point-cloud data into actionable information about the environment surrounding the vehicle. This information includes classifying static objects such as lane markings, road surface, curbs, signs and buildings as well as other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and animals. Through internal development as well as the recent acquisition of certain assets of Solfice (aka Civil Maps), we expect to be able to utilize our point-cloud data to achieve precise vehicle localization and to create and provide continuous updates to a high definition map of a vehicle’s environment.
Sentinel: Sentinel is our full-stack software platform for safety and autonomy that will enable Proactive Safety and highway autonomy for cars and commercial trucks. Our software products are in designing and coding phase of the development and had not yet achieved technological feasibility as at end of 2022.
Competition
The market for lidar-enabled vehicle features, on and off road, is an emerging one with many potential applications in the development stage. As a result, we face competition for lidar hardware business from a range of companies seeking to have their products incorporated into these applications. We believe we hold a strong position based on both hardware product performance and maturity, and our growing ability to develop deeply integrated software capabilities needed to provide autonomous and safety solutions to our customers. Within the automotive autonomy software space, the competitive landscape is still nascent and primarily focused on developing robo-taxi technologies as opposed to autonomous software solutions for passenger vehicles. Other autonomous software providers include: in-house OEM software teams; automotive silicon providers; large technology companies and newer technology companies focused on autonomous software. We partner with several of these autonomous software providers to provide our lidar and other products. Beyond automotive, the adjacent markets, including delivery bots and mapping, among others, are highly competitive. There are entrenched incumbents and competitors, including from China, particularly around ultra-low cost products that are widely available."
We know as Facts:
1. Luminar partnered with Mercedes Benz in 2022 and does not expect its product to be in vehicles before 2025.
2. We know Mercedes Benz teamed with Valeo has obtained the first European and USA approvals for Level 3 Driving.
Mercedes, Valeo on Drive Pilot L3 - DVN
With Drive Pilot in the Vision EQXX, Mercedes-Benz last December received the world’s first approval for an L3 AD system under the UN Regulations recgonised by most of the world’s…www.drivingvisionnews.com
3. We know Level 3 Driving involves maximum 60 kph on freeways with hands off the wheel but driver must maintain sufficient attention to retake control when warned by the vehicle so to do.
4. We know Valeo certifies its Lidar to 2OO metres.
5. We know that Luminar claims its Lidar is long range out to 600 metres on roads not exceeding certain undulations that could inhibit signals.
6. We know that Mercedes, Valeo and Bosch have proven systems for autonomous vehicle parking in parking stations.
7. We know that Valeo is claiming that Scala 3 will permit autonomous driving up to 130 kph and is coming out in 2025.
8. We know from the above SEC filing that Luminar is still not ready despite its advertising message that suggests it is a sure thing.
So my question is as Luminar does not claim to support autonomous parking or certified Level 3 driving at 60 kph but is simply promoting it can provide long range Lidar for high speed driving and from their website have been shipping one Lidar sensor unit to vehicle manufacturers for installation on/in car hoods above the windscreen why does this exclude Valeo's system which is offering 145 degree visibility and rear and side sensing from continuing to do what it presently does with Luminar increasing safety on high speed autobahns in Germany and Europe.
My opinion only DYOR
FF
AKIDA BALLISTA
Certainly the 2024 Mercedes lidar will be Valeo Scala 3. However, with its extra long range foveated lidar, Luminar may have an edge for level 5 which must be able to handle a 400kph closing speed which, if I recall correctly, has been set at 400 m range.
My point was that whether it's Valeo, which we know about, or Luminar, about which we have no confirmed association, I think we have a good shot at being in both because Luminar cannot meet Mercedes SWaP requirements with software classification. Luminar have been working with Mercedes for 2 years, and, during that time, Mercedes would have been fully aware of what Akida can do.
So even if the two projects were behind Chinese walls, Mercedes would have been within their rights to mention the public information on Akida to Luminar. Any on-going relationship between BrainChip and Luminar would have necessitated a Chinese wall within BrainChip to ensure there were no leaks of Valeo information to Luminar or vice-versa.
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