ams and Ibeo collaborate to accelerate deployment of solid-state LiDAR technology

ams and Ibeo have announced that their collaboration to bring solid-state LiDAR technology for autonomous driving to market has made significant progress. ams and Ibeo began jointly developing the ibeoNEXT solid-state LiDAR in 2018. Their goal is to provide the automotive market with solid-state LiDAR for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and to promote the adoption of autonomous driving. The two companies have successfully developed the industry’s first pure solid-state LiDAR sensor. Ibeo will begin providing samples to customers worldwide in October 2020, marking the companies’ steady progress towards their goal of launching a high-performance, premium product and achieving mass production in 2022, which will also help to enable large-scale deployment of solid-state LiDAR in the automotive sector.

 “Automotive companies in Europe and around the world use our leading-edge products. We are pleased to announce that the collaboration with ams has paid off and we can now deliver first samples to the global market. Ibeo and ams will continue to work together to develop important LiDAR technology for the automotive market with volume availability planned for 2022,” said Dr. Ulrich Lages, CEO of Ibeo Automotive Systems.

 “Both ams and Ibeo are focused on developing differentiated technologies and both parties will continue to work towards providing customers with advanced solutions that meet the automotive industry’s reliability and safety standards, laying the foundation for mass production and market launch in the next few years,” said Pascal Philippon, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing EMEA at ams.

LiDAR systems emit laser pulses and then receive the light reflected from various objects. The software calculates the distance to the target object using the so-called time of flight (ToF) principle, i.e. the time it takes for the reflected laser pulse to reach the sensor. Modern LiDAR systems can process many laser pulses in parallel: the result is a 3D model of the environment that can recognize crash barriers and road signs, vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, as well as their position and movement. This accuracy, combined with long range and high spatial resolution, is the key advantage of LiDAR technology. Unlike other LiDARs, this solid-state solution has no moving parts, such as mechanical or MEMS mirrors, that control the scanning of the beam. This provides great advantages in terms of reliability and complexity.

ams is a leader in developing advanced VCSEL technology that offers the highest power density on the market. The company’s high-power VCSELs excel in mechanical scanning and flood-beam LiDARs because they are less susceptible to single emitter failures, are more stable over the operating temperature range, and are easier to integrate. ams’ VCSELs can form arrays of emitters, which makes VCSELs easy to scale. ams’ technology also supports addressing capabilities, or powering selected areas of the die, enabling pure solid-state LiDAR. In addition, ams R&D offers enhanced features and eye protection around integrated functional safety standards, resulting in highly reliable technology.

Ibeo's flagship ibeoNEXT further consolidates the company's technological leadership in the field of LiDAR sensors. The ibeoNEXT solid-state LiDAR offers excellent detection range, high resolution and large vertical angle. Combining Ibeo's expertise in software and technology, Ibeo's solid-state LiDAR sensor is a major milestone on the road to fully autonomous driving.