[LiDAR News] Aeva and MicroVision will demonstrate the latest technology; Feibu Technology completed a B2 round of financing exceeding 100 million yuan; TuSimple is struggling to save itself; Dongfeng invests in Black Sesame

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Recently, the Hechuang brand officially announced that it will debut its new MPV model and a "mobile e-sports fortress" at the Guangzhou Auto Show, which will open on December 30. It is reported that the new MPV is a mass-produced model based on the Hechuang Concept-M concept car that debuted at the Guangzhou Auto Show last year. According to Hechuang officials, this MPV will be the world's first mass-produced MPV equipped with lidar. The maximum detection distance of lidar can reach 300m, and the ROI area (intelligent focus field of view) angular resolution reaches 0.15°x0.17 °, it can accurately sense pedestrian information from 100m away, and accurately detect vehicles up to 250m. This long-distance and high-precision detection capability provides a more comprehensive safety guarantee for high-end assisted driving functions above L2 level. In addition to lidar, the car will also be equipped with an 800V ultra-high voltage charging system, which can achieve a range of 200 kilometers after 5 minutes of charging.

Judging from the previous patent pictures, the new car will adopt a very exaggerated front face. The front grille is a closed design and will use through-type headlights; the side waistline will be straight and will use hidden door handles; the rear will also have through-type taillights. The shape is relatively simple.

| 5. Quanergy, a lidar company with a valuation of $2 billion, went public just 10 months ago but is now bankrupt

Recently, Quanergy, a lidar company in the United States that was once valued at US$2 billion, also initiated bankruptcy proceedings and replaced its senior management.

In the second half of this year, Velodyne, Luminar, Ouster and other leading lidar companies have reported layoffs and increased losses after the release of their financial reports. Just last month, Ouster and Velodyne officially announced their merger in an attempt to work together to overcome the difficulties.

It is reported that Quanergy is located in the center of Silicon Valley. In August 2021, it became the first lidar company in the world to make a true solid-state CMOS lidar sensor based on optical phased array (OPA) technology. Quanergy's solution has been adopted by the world Deployed by nearly 400 customers. Quanergy has gone through five rounds of financing in its development history, and the latest round of financing has a valuation of up to US$2 billion.

In February this year, Quanergy used the SPAC method to list on the New York Stock Exchange. However, it received a delisting warning from the New York Stock Exchange in November. In less than a year, Quanergy went from being a star company to going bankrupt. The ending changed so quickly that it was surprising.

| 6. Lidar sensors and tunable lenses can make autofocus glasses

Viable commercialization of "tunable" lenses with autofocus is still years away, but researchers at the University of Tübingen have now demonstrated the capabilities of a liquid film-based tunable lens controlled by a solid-state lidar camera feedback system , and reported their findings in Biomedical Optics Letters.

Liquid film-based lenses have a membrane that changes shape as liquid is pumped in and out of the chamber; the curvature of the membrane defines the lens. The researchers evaluated the visual acuity and contrast sensitivity of this type of tunable lens for presbyopia correction and evaluated its aberration characteristics. First author Rajat Agarwala and colleagues also demonstrated the feasibility of operating the lens using a feedback mechanism based on a portable, off-the-shelf lidar camera with a processing time of 40ms.

The study included 15 adults with healthy eyes who participated after receiving eye exams. Before the test, they were injected with a cycloplegic agent that blocks their eyes' ability to change optical power. Participants wore a prototype of a custom glasses-like frame housing an adjustable lens and a lidar camera strapped to their forehead to determine distances in their field of vision.

Researchers assessed participants' vision at three distances while viewing an external monitor and using a keyboard to provide feedback. They also used the lens to evaluate contrast sensitivity and refocusing tasks, using gaze tracking and depth sensor data to drive the lens. LiDAR cameras with adjustable lenses proved technically feasible as 3D distance estimators for the development of adjustable glasses for presbyopia. The team observed low wavefront error and fast power conversion, as well as a wide field of view, demonstrating the lens' great potential for ophthalmic applications.

| 7. “The Godfather of Fiber Laser” launches again, Leishen Intelligent Car Specification 1550nm LiDAR is on sale for 7,999 yuan

Recently, Leishen Intelligent announced that Leishen Intelligent image-level 1550nm fiber optic automotive-grade lidar will be sold at a shocking price of 7,999 yuan!

This move not only means that Leishen Intelligent has extraordinary cost control advantages, but also reflects the importance that Hu Xiaobo, the "Godfather of Fiber Laser", attaches to intelligent upgrades and safety in various fields, practicing "making driving safer, making machines smarter, With the corporate mission of "making life better", the large-scale promotion of high-performance sensors such as high-end 1550nm fiber optic automotive lidar to various fields also reflects Hu Xiaobo's responsibility to make technology accessible to the public.

Figure: Leishen Intelligent Image Level 1550nm Optical Fiber Automotive LiDAR Implementation Volume

The LS series image-level 1550nm fiber-optic automotive-grade lidar has achieved the unprecedented Everest-level performance of automotive-grade lidar. It has super long-distance detection performance of small objects and super-high point cloud density performance, and can detect up to 500m (for For driverless trucks and commercial vehicles, flying cars, and aviation applications, Leishen Intelligence can customize ultra-long-range 1550nm fiber lidar with a range measurement capability of 1000 meters to 2000 meters), with a range of 250m at 10% reflectivity, and measurement The accuracy is ±2cm, the FOV is 120°(H)x25°(V), the minimum vertical angle resolution can reach up to 0.01°, and the measuring point rate can reach 1.19 million points/second-6.14 million points/second. It can be customized ROI area and ROI form. The ROI area can be equivalent to 250 lines - 2500 lines. The ultra-thin size of 45mm is easier to integrate on the body. It has complete anti-interference function and serves autonomous driving with high reliability and design for mass production vehicles. Application, comprehensive performance leads the world, and will become a must-have for the main radar for high-end autonomous driving above L4. (Source: Leishen Intelligence)

| 8. Hesai Technology FT120 won one million fixed points upon its release, achieving a new breakthrough in pure solid-state lidar

Recently, Hesai Technology officially released the pure solid-state short-range blind-filling lidar FT120 for ADAS pre-installed mass production vehicles, achieving another breakthrough after the AT128. Once released, it has received a total of more than one million units from multiple OEMs. Fixed point.

According to reports, the pure solid-state lidar FT120 released by Hesai Technology completes laser emission and reception directly through the chip. It does not have any moving parts inside and is compact in size. The high degree of integration also allows this lidar to further reduce costs and can be flexibly installed on both sides or around the car body according to actual needs, while being both functional and beautiful. And its performance is also very powerful. As a lidar positioned to compensate for blindness at close range, the FT120 has a field of view of 100°×75°, with the absolute advantages of ultra-wide angle and zero blind spots. Especially in urban environments, the wider vertical field of view can detect low children, pets, cones and zebra crossings, effectively making up for the blind spots on both sides of the car, enabling real-time grasp of the surrounding environment to ensure safety.

What are the black technologies behind the compact and powerful FT120? This has to mention the unique chip technology of Hesai Technology. For a long time, there have been two major problems that have plagued the large-scale application of lidar: one is cost, and the other is production capacity. The large number of laser transceiver components inside traditional lidar not only drives up the production cost of the product, but also requires manual assembly during the manufacturing process, which seriously restricts the implementation of large-scale production. In this regard, Hesai Technology's solution is to use semiconductor technology to integrate all internal components on a small chip. This is undoubtedly a huge challenge and is unprecedented in the industry.

| 9. The Air Force dispatches the Black Sage-S3 team to study drone lidar systems

The Air Force Research Laboratory selected a team composed of Black Sage and Spectral Sensor Solutions to work on a new lidar sensing system designed to improve the detection and identification capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles. Black Sage said on Wednesday the partner will carry out work under its LiDAR Drone Systems Detection and Identification program at its new Sage Works facility to evaluate systems for detecting and identifying drone threats.

The companies will be investigated as part of AFRL's $4.5 million contract. Tim Morris, Black Sage LUASDD program manager, said lidar systems add another layer of sensor data to challenges faced by radar or electro-optical and infrared sensors. Morris said Black Sage uses a layered counter-drone system approach that fuses data from multiple sensors including radar, EO/IR cameras and passive radio frequency sensors.

S3, on the other hand, develops long-range lidar technology using multiple active sensing technologies. The company's eye-safe visual assessment and analysis lidar platform supports efforts against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats.

On December 19, autonomous driving company Feibu Technology announced that it had completed a B2 round of financing exceeding 100 million yuan. This round of financing was jointly invested by Anhui Railway Development Fund and Zhejiang University Education Foundation. The funds raised will be mainly used for the research and development of autonomous driving product technology to accelerate the intelligent upgrading of traditional industries such as ports.

According to the data, Feibu Technology was founded in 2017. It is an artificial intelligence company dedicated to realizing fully automatic driverless driving. It focuses on providing driverless horizontal transportation systems and technical services for traditional terminals and newly built automated terminals. It will be awarded the award in 2022. A national-level specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprise.

Its full-stack self-developed product system includes an L4-level vehicle-side intelligent driving system that can remove safety personnel for actual ship operations at the port, a remote control system that meets the needs of fully unmanned port operations, and fleet and port equipment dispatching that improves efficiency. The management system solves industry pain points such as high infrastructure investment and long implementation cycle, and has achieved long-term and stable commercial implementation verification in the world's largest port.

In September 2022, Fabu Technology and Ningbo Zhoushan Port Meidong Company signed the fourth phase of cooperation, continuing to expand the application of L4-level unmanned container trucks in ports. The number has exceeded 60, forming the world's largest single-terminal unmanned container truck fleet, accounting for more than 20% of the total number of container trucks at the terminal. China Net Finance

After experiencing a series of turbulence in the board of directors, the resignation of the audit firm and the termination of important cooperation, TuSimple (TSP.NQ), the world's number one autonomous driving stock in the whirlpool, has been making frequent "new moves" in recent days in an attempt to Take the fastest action to avoid triggering the risk of delisting.

On December 16, TuSimple disclosed the appointments of new board members, remuneration committee members and financial director, and revised the equity incentive plan established by the company in 2021. At the same time, it added an "equity incentive retained stock automatic increase plan" in an attempt to Further consolidate the control of the founding team.

On the same day, according to overseas media reports, TuSimple plans to lay off half of its employees, or approximately 700 employees worldwide. At the same time, the company will reduce its self-driving truck operations in Arizona and Texas in the United States to survive.

Regarding the recent series of events, CEO Lu Cheng, who has returned to take charge of the company, said: "As I return to lead Tucson, I am committed to turning this situation around and putting us on a path to long-term stability and success. We are moving forward. Plans to restore corporate responsibility and transparency... look forward to working with (new board members) to save the situation, which includes ensuring the company's capital efficiency." 21st Century Business Herald

| 3. Dongfeng invests in chip design company to lay out core hardware for autonomous driving

Recently, Black Sesame announced to the public that it has received strategic investment from Dongfeng Group, and has also received project designations for Dongfeng Passenger Car Company's first pure electric sedan and first pure electric SUV.

Founded in 2016, Heizhima Intelligence took three years to release its first chip, A500, in 2019, and its second product, A1000, in 2020.

The latter is the first domestic high-computing autonomous driving chip to enter mass production, with a computing power of 58 TOPS (INT 8) - 116 TOPS (INT 4). In 2021, Black Sesame Intelligence launched the A1000 Pro based on the Huashan No. 2 A1000. The INT4 computing power of a single chip can reach 196 TOPS and can support high-level autonomous driving.

According to the cooperation agreement between the two parties, Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company will build a parking and parking integrated intelligent driving domain controller platform based on Huashan No. 2 A1000 series autonomous driving chips. This platform with a computing power of 58 TOPS will be mass-produced in 2023 and can realize L2+ functions such as highway assisted driving and memory parking. Before Dongfeng Passenger Cars, JAC Motors had purchased the A1000 for use in its mass-produced models.

In addition, Black Sesame Intelligence has also launched commercial cooperation with Bosch, Baidu, Dongfeng Yuexiang, T3, Junlianzhixing, Zhongke Chuangda, Asia Pacific, etc.

| 4. NHTSA launches formal investigation into Cruise autonomous driving system

According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received alerts of multiple incidents involving Cruise, GM’s self-driving vehicle unit. The safety regulator has decided to launch a formal investigation into Cruise's self-driving taxi system. The vehicle in question is the Chevrolet Bolt electric car produced by General Motors, with self-driving technology from Cruise.

Cruise chief operating officer Gil West previously said the company aims to enter multiple markets in the future. Cruise will expand into a series of new markets in 2023, putting thousands of self-driving taxis on public roads.

NHTSA has received reports that Cruise self-driving taxis "may brake inappropriately or become unable to move." The federal regulator noted that hard braking and being unable to drive are two different problems, but they both cause a vehicle to impede traffic. NHTSA will conduct a preliminary inspection of 242 Cruise self-driving vehicles to determine whether they should be recalled.

NHTSA will evaluate both issues, with the agency determining not only what causes them to occur but also how often they may occur. The agency also must determine how long an inoperable vehicle typically remains "incapacitated" and what the consequences would be if this continued to occur.

So far, NHTSA has pointed out that the above problems "could create a variety of potential hazards, such as collision with other vehicles, causing passengers to be trapped in inoperable vehicles, or impeding other traffic participants, including emergency response vehicles." .

NHTSA launched the investigation after three crashes involving Cruise's self-driving taxis. These accidents were not due to Cruise vehicles hitting other cars, but rather being rear-ended by vehicles behind them due to sudden braking. Cruise said its self-driving taxis have not received fines.

Cruise said its self-driving cars have driven about 700,000 miles on busy urban roads without a human driver without any serious injuries or fatalities. In September, Cruise recalled 80 self-driving vehicles to provide necessary vehicle updates after a crash injured two people. Gasgoo News