SiLC Technologies Inc. has received an investment from Honda Motor Company to develop next-generation frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar technology for all types of mobility offerings.
SiLC develops single-chip FMCW lidar that uses artificial-based machine vision.
Why it matters
Advanced AI vision is purportedly a path toward enabling the future of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and perhaps the future of autonomous transportation as the technology matures. While autonomous driving is still a work in progress and most consumers are still weary of the technology, ADAS is wholeheartedly a technology the drivers want, and they continue to call for more safety features in vehicles.
However, in current ADAS systems, they often fail to detect objects at longer distances and higher resolutions in diverse environments, SiLC said. Rapid detection of moving objects and early determination could be the difference in accidents.
SiLC claims that radar and 2D/3D vision systems struggle especially with detecting dark objects at distances of a couple of hundred meters. Additionally, time of flight lidar suffers from sunlight and retro reflectors.
FMCW lidar, SiLC said, can detect objects at distances of a kilometer or more with precise distance measurements and can measure the velocity of objects. This allows the systems to predict movement accurately, the company said.
