Looking to offer alternative technology to the lidar market, Omnitron Sensors, a semiconductor startup founded by a team with roots at Tesla and Google, is coming to market with what it claims is the first microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) step-scanning mirror for a range of lidar use cases.
According to Yole Intelligence, lidar subsystems in the automotive advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and aerial drones is expected to reach $6.3 billion by 2027.
Omnitron is using Silex Microsystems as its manufacturing partner. Silex is a foundry that specializes in MEMS manufacturing and will deliver the MEMS scanner for lidar in applications.
The company has raised a total of $11 million in venture funding with L’Attitude Ventures as the lead investor.
“As the first MEMS mirror that aligns to a LiDAR system’s sub-micron-level tolerances without constant recalibration — and which is priced for cars instead of billion-dollar satellites — Omnitron’s sensor has attracted the attention of tier 1 automotive suppliers,” said Eric Aguilar, co-founder and CEO at Omnitron Sensors. “With the capital in hand to manufacture our MEMS mirror and with Silex as our proven high-volume foundry partner, we’ve cleared the way to satisfy future demand from LiDAR suppliers.”
