PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On the heels of its automotive product debut at the January Consumer Electronics Show (CES), artificial perception pioneer AEye today announced it has been awarded foundational patents with numerous claims for its solid state MEMs-based agile LiDAR and embedded AI technology that are core to AEye’s iDAR™ perception system.
AEye’s iDAR (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) perception system mimics how a human’s visual cortex focuses on and evaluates potential driving hazards. Using embedded AI within a distributed architecture, iDAR critically and dynamically assesses general surroundings, while applying differentiated focus to track targets and objects of interest. As a scalable, integrated system, iDAR delivers more accurate, longer range, and more intelligent information faster. AEye’s first iDAR-based product, the AE100 artificial perception system, will be available this summer to OEMs and Tier 1s launching autonomous vehicle initiatives.
"AEye's groundbreaking iDAR system is the first to use intelligent data capture to enable rapid perception and path planning,” said Elliot Garbus, former Vice President of Transportation Solutions at Intel. “Most LiDAR systems function at only 10Hz, while the human visual cortex processes at 27Hz. Autonomous vehicles need perception systems that work at least as fast as humans. iDAR is the first and only perception system to consistently deliver performance of at least 30-50Hz. Better quality information, faster. This is a game changer for the autonomous vehicle market.”
The iDAR perception system includes inventions covered by newly awarded patents. These include 71 claims covering AEye inventions ranging from a unique approach to dynamic scan and shot pattern for LiDAR transmissions to the ability to control and shape each laser pulse and methods for interrogating each voxel within a point cloud. These patented inventions contribute significant performance improvements for the iDAR perception system: improving range by 400%; increasing speed by 20x; and boosting object classification accuracy while reducing laser interference.
“Leveraging the inventions covered by our patents, we created the worlds first intelligent agile LiDAR – enabling us to interrogate a point cloud as individual voxels and control each one using multiple levers,” said Allan Steinhardt, Chief Scientist at AEye. “Traditional systems only adapt on frame size or placement. In addition to frame size and placement, Agile LiDAR – a core feature of the iDAR perception system – allows us to dynamically control frame pattern, pulse tuning, pulse shaping, pulse energy and other critical dimensions that enable embedded AI.”
In January, 2018 at CES in Las Vegas, AEye announced the AE100, a solid state, cost-optimized system based on AEye’s iDAR perception system.
About AEye
AEye is an artificial perception pioneer and creator of iDAR™, a perception system that acts as the eyes and visual cortex of autonomous vehicles. Since its demonstration of its solid state LiDAR scanner in 2013, AEye has pioneered breakthroughs in intelligent sensing. The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and backed by world-renowned investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Airbus Ventures and Intel Capital. For more information, please visit www.aeye.ai.