Sense Photonics Demonstrates the World’s First 940nm Global Shutter Flash LiDAR with 200-Meter Range for Mass-Market Automotive Applications
San Francisco, CA — January 6, 2021- Sense Photonics announced today that it has achieved an industry-first by successfully demonstrating 200-meter detection with its proprietary global shutter flash LiDAR system.
The Sense system leverages the company’s proprietary emitter and SPAD sensor technologies. Sense Silicon, a backside illuminated CMOS SPAD device with more than 140,000 pixels, is designed to work seamlessly with the Sense Illuminator, a distributed 940nm laser array of more than 15,000 VCSELs. Together, they are the core building blocks of Sense’s camera-like architecture enabling the first high-resolution, eye-safe, global shutter flash LiDAR that can detect 10% reflective targets at 200 meters range in full sunlight outputting tens of millions of points per second. Global shutter acquisition sets a new standard in the long-range LiDAR industry by removing the need for complex motion blur correction while allowing pixel-level, frame-by-frame fusion with RGB camera data.
“We have delivered what industry experts thought was impossible due to our 940nm wavelength, and have created a revolutionary new architecture with the Sense Illuminator, Sense Silicon, and our state-of-the-art signal processing pipeline to miniaturize the data output,” said Hod Finkelstein, CTO, Sense Photonics. “Our LiDAR systems will solve the shortcomings that OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and Robotaxi companies have been dealing with in competing LiDAR technologies.”
Geared specifically for mass-market automotive adoption, Sense uses mature manufacturing and cost-effective assembly processes used in today’s consumer technology industries. And unlike legacy LiDAR technologies, Sense’s flash architecture eliminates the need for fine alignment between emitter & receiver, maintaining sensor calibration and depth accuracy during shock and vibration. Additionally, the architecture is designed as a platform to allow for customer-specific product variations with a simple change in optics and the first to be able to provide both short- and long-range capabilities from the same architecture.
“In order to scale past niche automotive R&D projects for ADAS and AV, LiDAR sensors must fit within the vehicle’s acceptable system cost, package and reliability requirements,” said Shauna McIntyre, CEO, Sense Photonics. “Sense pushed the boundaries of performance by designing application-specific VCSELs and SPADs that take advantage of the economics of wafer-scale fabrication.”
The innovative flash architecture from Sense Photonics is already capturing the interest of automakers, AV companies, and Tier 1 suppliers. Customer evaluation systems are being finalized and will be available mid 2021 to meet current demand requirements, with start of production being planned for late 2024.
