Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN) Advances Lidar Solutions Enabling Automatic Emergency Braking, NHTSA Pushes for New Rules
- Automatic Emergency Braking (“AEB”) uses sensors to monitor and detect obstacles and apply the brakes to either prevent the collision or reduce impact severity
- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (“IIHS”) conducted a study revealing that AEB with pedestrian detection was associated with a 29%-30% reduction in pedestrian injury crash risk
- The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring AEB on all new passenger cars and light trucks
- Cepton’s Vista(R)-X90 Plus is billed as the “world’s smallest” lidar with extensive integration capabilities allowing manufacturers to seamlessly embed the system without disrupting the vehicle’s design
- Cepton engages with all top 10 global OEMs, develops solutions for ADAS, early-warning intrusion detection, crowd analytics, airport terminal monitoring, railway-level obstacle detection, free-flow e-tolling, and other perception solutions for smart infrastructure
Automatic Emergency Braking (“AEB”) is a vehicle safety feature designed to help prevent or mitigate accidents. This technology uses sensors to monitor, detect obstacles and apply the vehicle’s brakes to avoid collisions or reduce impact severity.
AEB uses various sensors, and there has been a rising trend in the automotive industry to add lidar into the sensor suite for increased accuracy – an acronym for “light detection and ranging”. A lidar sensor emits light pulses, which bounce back when they hit an object, to measure distance based on time of flight. Cepton (NASDAQ: CPTN), a Silicon Valley lidar innovator, advances high-performance lidar technology suitable for advanced driver assistance systems (“ADAS”), including AEB features, that can be easily integrated into automobiles without disrupting the vehicle’s design.
In a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (“IIHS”), AEB with pedestrian detection was associated with a 29%-30% reduction in pedestrian injury crash risk (https://ibn.fm/F6Zvq). Considering the growing evidence supporting the use of AEB, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring AEB on all new passenger cars and light trucks (https://ibn.fm/nHdkE) that, specifically, would perform in low-light conditions and at high speeds.
“Today, we take an important step forward to save lives and make our roadways safer for all Americans,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Just as lifesaving innovations from previous generations like seat belts and air bags have helped improve safety, requiring automatic emergency braking on cars and trucks would keep all of us safer on our roads.”
CPTN engages with all top 10 global OEMs and collaborates with numerous worldwide partners to develop lidar solutions that balance performance, reliability, and affordability for mass-market adoption. The Company recently unveiled the Vista-X90 Plus, billed as the “world’s smallest” adaptive long-range lidar (https://ibn.fm/rPZbZ). Compared to its predecessor – the Vista-X90 – the Vista X90 Plus is 62% slimmer and features an expanded Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”) chipset (https://ibn.fm/59SAV).
Lidar sensors can be strategically mounted in numerous locations on the automobile, depending on the manufacturer, model, and type. Placement on the front bumper typically detects objects ahead of the vehicle, while rear bumper placement helps prevent collisions during parking or reverse maneuvers. Lidar sensors placed on side mirrors improves detection in blind spots, and roof placement enables a larger coverage of the automobile’s surroundings.
At just 120(W) x 24(H) x 120(D) mm, the Vista-X90 Plus takes sensor embeddability even further with additional integration options, including the headlamps, vehicle fascia, and behind the windshield. Further, Cepton’s dedicated ASICs improve performance, speed, and digital signal processing while helping manufacturers achieve price points critical for mass-market lidar adoption.
CPTN’s lidar solutions extend beyond AEB and ADAS to include early-warning intrusion detection, crowd analytics solutions, airport terminal monitoring, obstacle detection at railway-level crossings, free-flow e-tolling, and perception solutions for smart transportation infrastructure. Led by lidar pioneer and technologist Dr. Jun Pei, the Company is headquartered in San Jose, California with a center of excellence facility in Troy, Michigan.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Cepton.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CPTN are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CPTN
