Valeo in Troy Unveils Third Generation LiDAR to Advance AVs

Valeo, a global leader in advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) that has its North American headquarters in Troy, has announced its third generation scanning LiDAR system offers significant performance enhancements. The new system is set for market debut in 2024.
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Troy's Valeo unveiled its third generation LiDAR scanning system, which offers significant performance improvements. // Courtesy of Valeo
Troy’s Valeo unveiled its third generation LiDAR scanning system, which offers significant performance improvements. // Courtesy of Valeo

Valeo, a global leader in advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) that has its North American headquarters in Troy, has announced its third generation scanning LiDAR system offers significant performance enhancements. The new system is set for market debut in 2024.

“Valeo-s third generation LiDAR is a major technological advance toward the autonomous vehicle,” says Geoffrey Bouquot, senior vice president for R&D and strategy at Valeo. “This upgrade strengthens Valeo’s technological and industrial leadership in the field since we already are the only supplier on the market currently series-producing an automotive-grade LiDAR scanner. Our No. 1 goal with this device remains the same — to save lives on the road.”

The performance enhancements encompass range, resolution, and frame rate. It reconstructs a 3-D real-time image of the vehicles surroundings at a rate of 4.5 million pixels and 25 frames per second. Compared to the previous generation, the range is 17 times better, the range 3 times, and viewing angle 2.5 times.

These perception capabilities, the company says, allow the LiDAR system to see things that humans, cameras, and radars cannot. It allows vehicles level 2 automation and above, able to operate — even in emergency situations — at highway speeds of up to 80 mph.

The entire system — including the hardware, software, and associated artificial intelligence — is designed and manufactured by Valeo. It automatically adapts to the environment and improves its performance over time with regular updates.

Made at the company’s Wemding plant in Bavaria, the production lines draw on Valeo’s expertise in optics, mechanics, and photonics — or the branch of physics that focuses on the emission and detection of light particles. Nearly 400 people at the company are dedicated solely to this technology.

Valeo says up to 30 percent of premium new vehicles are set to reach level 3 automation by 2030, and to do so will need to be equipped with LiDAR technology. Along with autonomous shuttles, robo-taxis, delivery droids, autonomous trucks, and more, the market is expected to reach more than $50 billion by the end of the decade.