AEye LiDAR achieves new breakthrough and can detect objects 1,000 meters away in the rain/behind the windshield

According to foreign media reports, on July 12, local time, AEye, a global leader in adaptive high-performance lidar solutions, said that its long-range lidar sensor has achieved another milestone - it can detect situations within a range of 1,000 meters in the rain and behind the windshield. The test was conducted at the American Center for Mobility (ACM) in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the test results were verified by VSI Labs, an active safety and autonomous driving technology research organization.

AEye LiDAR test (Image source: AEye)

AEye LiDAR performs well in the rain and behind windshields

AEye’s sensors have been independently validated to have detection ranges twice as far as competing products, and the latest testing shows that AEye’s adaptive lidar not only achieves breakthrough ranging capabilities, but also achieves this capability in adverse weather conditions and behind a first surface, such as a windshield.

The test was conducted using VSI's research vehicle, which integrated AEye sensors into its autonomous driving stack to study the impact of adaptive lidar on autonomous driving performance and safety. The research team used a rain machine to simulate wet weather and placed the sensor behind a windshield to measure the performance of the long-range sensor in heavy rain.

AEye detects pedestrians in the rain and darkness

In the second lidar test on the ACM track, the AEye sensor was mounted on a VSI test vehicle and had to detect small objects at 120 meters in a tunnel through rain and a second surface. The test was conducted in heavy rain with the sensor pointed at a dark tunnel. In the end, the AEye sensor detected five bricks and a black dog that are invisible to the human eye at 120 meters, and also detected a pedestrian and a child at 110 meters.

In March this year, AEye announced that VSI Labs has verified that AEye LiDAR has breakthrough range, resolution and speed, and can be installed behind the first surface such as windshield or grille for detection with almost no impact on performance. This capability is very important for automotive OEMs, allowing OEMs to flexibly install sensors in car designs without affecting the aesthetics of the vehicle or changing the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle.

This design-centric approach to vehicle integration is made possible by AEye’s unique dual-static architecture, which, unlike traditional coaxial lidar systems, separates the transmit and receive paths, achieving optical isolation and ensuring that any reflected light does not “blind” the sensor. This architecture also ensures optimal performance even in the worst weather conditions. The longer wavelength of the 1550nm laser used by AEye allows for better penetration of obstructions, enabling superior detection performance in rain, snow, and smoke, further improving the performance of its lidar.

AEye's intelligent lidar uses adaptive sensing technology to achieve industry-leading performance, solving the most difficult challenges facing autonomous driving while also meeting automotive functional safety requirements. Unlike traditional sensing systems that passively collect data, AEye's adaptive lidar scans the entire scene while focusing on what's important in an intelligent way to make safer, smarter, and faster decisions in complex scenarios. As a result, AEye's lidar enables higher levels (L2-L5) of autonomous driving capabilities at the best performance, power, and price.

AEye is the first and only LiDAR supplier to have its product performance independently verified and published by a third-party testing organization. In addition to product performance testing by VSI Labs, the sensor’s ruggedness and reliability were also verified by NTS, a global leader in product testing, inspection, and validation, which subjected the sensor to extreme automotive shock and vibration testing.