Skip to main content

Half of top OEMs work on LiDAR technology for ADAS

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, as part of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) sensor suite, will be mostly deployed for active safety functions with only 29 per cent fitted for fully automated driving purposes by 2021, according to Frost & Sullivan. Out of the top 13 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), seven are working on automated driving passenger vehicles using a LiDAR. Frost & Sullivan’s latest analysis, LIDAR-based Strategies for Active Safety and Automated Driving from M
October 13, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, as part of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) sensor suite, will be mostly deployed for active safety functions with only 29 per cent fitted for fully automated driving purposes by 2021, according to 2097 Frost & Sullivan. Out of the top 13 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), seven are working on automated driving passenger vehicles using a LiDAR.

Frost & Sullivan’s %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal latest analysis Visit latest analysis page false http://www.frost.com/mb42 false false%>, LIDAR-based Strategies for Active Safety and Automated Driving from Major OEMs in Europe and North America, finds that the LiDAR-enabled passenger vehicle market earned revenues of $51.1 million in 2014 and estimates this to reach US$141.0 million in 2021.

The need to deploy improved sensors that support active safety and automated driving in future passenger vehicles has driven the European and North American automotive industry towards exploring LiDAR technology. Compared to other products on the market, LiDAR is a better sensor in terms of object detection and mapping in low-visibility conditions. The use of reflective infrared lasers to capture data and the independence from ambient light enables LiDAR to perceive objects the same way in a wide range of conditions.

“Legislations have been passed in parts of North America in support of the use of LiDAR technology in vehicles to enable automated driving,” said Frost & Sullivan Automotive & Transportation senior research analyst, Anirudh Venkitaraman. “While this has encouraged adoption in the region, the higher cost of LiDAR systems when compared with other sensors has been a major constraint for growth.”

The European and North American markets do offer some cost-effective LiDAR solutions but they have a resolution that is poor-to-modest at best. Reliability issues also plague these systems as they consist of a few moving parts.

Other problems associated with LiDAR systems are its limited range and packaging constraints. The average LiDAR system available on the market can scan up to 100 metres ahead with limited reflectivity. This, however, is inferior to camera-based systems, which provide a range up to 500 metres.

“As LiDAR technology is still in its nascent stages, achieving market acceptance will take some time,” noted Venkitaraman. “Once the future generation of technologically-advanced, affordable LiDARs hit the market shelves towards 2020, the end-user market will be more willing to invest in these products.”

OEMs in Europe and North America are rigorously working with tier-one suppliers to create an advanced LiDAR solution for use in passenger vehicles. Those OEMs tying up with tier-one suppliers to develop LiDAR systems for automated driving vehicles will manage successful and faster introduction of their products.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • E Ink partners with Papercast on smart bus stop project in Japan
    February 20, 2018
    Papercast's solar-powered e-paper passenger information displays will be utilised for a smart bus stop project in Japan's Aizuwakamatsu city as part of a partnership with E Ink Holdings. The project, administered by Aizu Riding Car Development (ARCD), aims to improve service convenience and reduce ongoing costs through digitally connecting bus stops. The multi-lingual displays are managed remotely via Papercast's data management platform to deliver live bus arrivals, timetables, route data, route transfers
  • London Science Museum hosts free driverless vehicle exhibition
    March 8, 2019
    Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are at the heart of a new exhibition at the London Science Museum. Driverless: Who is in control? opens on 12 June and looks at “how close we are to living in a world driven by thinking machines”. Continuing until October 2020, the show examines themes familiar to ITS professionals wrestling with the legal, ethical and logistical issues around the introduction of driverless cars to public roads. The museum says it will focus on “how much of this seemingly futuristic technolog
  • Limited places remaining for FIRM15 infrastructure meeting
    March 31, 2015
    The FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting 2015 (FIRM15) will be held on 22 and 23 April 2015 at the Diamant Centre in Brussels, Belgium. Held every two years, for the first time FIRM15 is opening up to all transport modes with speakers and participants from the rail sector. With the theme of ‘Innovative maintenance of Transport Infrastructure: Faster, cheaper, more reliable, safer and greener’, FIRM15 aims at mapping the problems and challenges of innovative maintenance of transport infrastructure;
  • Wavetronix celebrates growth with strong sales of SmartSensor HD units
    October 23, 2012
    Wavetronix, the global specialist in radar traffic detection and monitoring, is here at the ITS World Congress celebrating another year of major growth and an expanded presence throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. And the company is encouraging transportation agencies around the world to “rise above the road” by considering its true high definition radar as a viable, non-intrusive alternative to loops. This year, Wavetronix supplied thousands of SmartSensor HD units for projects in Denmark, France, Russia, So