Skip to main content

AID teams up with Luminar for advanced LiDAR sensing technology

AID-Autonomous Intelligent Driving, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Audi, is partnering with Luminar Technologies to deploy LiDAR products. Launched in March last year, AID has an autonomous vehicle (AV) test fleet in Munich and bills itself as the ‘centre of excellence’ for urban autonomous driving in the Volkswagen Group. Luminar LiDARs will be installed on the roof of the AVs to give a 360-degree field of view. “Perception remains a bottleneck today for autonomous mobility and we quickly worked to
December 21, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

AID-Autonomous Intelligent Driving, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 2125 Audi, is partnering with Luminar Technologies to deploy LiDAR products.

Launched in March last year, AID has an autonomous vehicle (AV) test fleet in %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Munich false https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLGFB8hcpHU&amp;feature=youtu.be false false%> and bills itself as the ‘centre of excellence’ for urban autonomous driving in the 994 Volkswagen Group.

Luminar LiDARs will be installed on the roof of the AVs to give a 360-degree field of view.

“Perception remains a bottleneck today for autonomous mobility and we quickly worked to find the most powerful sensors to make the perception task easier,” says AID chief technology officer Alexandre Haag. “That's where Luminar comes in - the technology is clearly above the pack in terms of range and density, which is important for solving the most challenging problems in autonomy.”

LiDAR´s 3D mapping technology has become instrumental in enabling AVs to measure the distance of objects and ‘see’ the world in front of them, the company says.

“Including Luminar Technologies in our partnership programme brings us one step closer to

achieving our mission to drive fully autonomously by 2021 in urban areas,” Haag adds.

Related Content

  • March 27, 2019
    UK reviews MaaS, data and micromobility regulation
    Mobility as a Service (MaaS), transport data and micromobility are to be the subject of new regulatory review by the UK government. Zero-emission vehicles, driverless vehicles (AVs) and drones are already under similar review. But in a document, Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy, maps out how the country’s Department of Transport will approach other mobility opportunities – and challenges. “This is the moment to reflect on what we as a society want these changes to deliver and what we want our urban
  • October 4, 2019
    Ford plans AV transport in Austin in 2021
    Ford Motor is to launch an autonomous vehicle (AV) transportation service in Austin, Texas, by 2021. Reuters says Ford is testing a self-driving system - developed with Argo AI, an AV technology company backed by Ford - in its Fusion Hybrid sedans. Sherif Marakby, chief executive of Ford autonomous vehicles, says the company is planning to launch the service using hybrids that can carry either people or goods. Argo AI says teams will manually drive the Fusion test vehicles to map the city’s streets an
  • April 5, 2017
    The bus is the future, says Swedish transport operator in its latest ad
    Swedish public transport company Västtrafik has devised a different advertising campaign to encourage more car drivers to take the bus. The campaign film mimics the way the car industry advertises its new car launches, using buzzwords such as electric, sustainable, delegated driving, with dramatic music, lighting and quick cuts between images. In the end, however, a bus is revealed as the ‘mobility of the future’ with the offer of a free two-week test drive.
  • October 17, 2019
    Waymo may operate AVs in Phoenix ‘without safety driver’
    Ride-hailing company Waymo may be about to start operating fully-autonomous vehicles (AVs) to pick people up - without a safety driver. An email sent to users, which appeared on Reddit, said people in Phoenix, Arizona, who were matched with an AV will see a notification in the app that confirms the car will not have a trained driver. Users can tap a ‘What to Expect’ button within the app to learn more about the AVs. They can also communicate with a rider support agent at any part of the trip via the app o