BMW has just signed a contract with the industrial supplier Magna and the Israeli startup Innoviz for the delivery of Lidar laser scanners for its self-propelled vehicles. This is how the magazine Wired reports in its online edition. Innoviz is a leading provider of innovative Lidar remote sensing solutions for the mass marketing of autonomous vehicles. The company’s Lidar products offer superior performance at the cost and size required to enter the mass market.
Lidar (short for’light detection and ranging’) is a radar-related method for optical distance and velocity measurement and for remote measurement of atmospheric parameters. Laser beams are used instead of radio waves. Lidar systems for atmospheric measurement emit laser pulses and detect the light scattered back from the atmosphere. Thus, the distance to the scattering location is calculated from the light propagation time of the signals.

The companies involved announced only a few details of the deal, so it is not clear how BMW intends to use the sensor. However, it is clear that with this announcement BMW joins the ranks of vehicle manufacturers equipping themselves for autonomous driving with Lidar technology.

General Motors acquired a lidar startup called Strobe. Argo AI, which manufactures an autonomous system for Ford, drew on Princeton Lightwave. Toyota has registered with Luminar, headed by 23-year-old photonist Austin Russell. And Velodyne, the first company to produce Lidar for robot cars, is still an important player with 10,000 units per year. Google’s sister company Waymo has spent years and millions of dollars developing its own proprietary system.

Innoviz Technologies supplies the BMW Group with semiconductor lidar sensors

The Lidar-based technology of the solid-state sensors comes from the Israeli start-up Innoviz Technologies. Based in Israel, the company was founded in January 2016 by former members of the Israeli Armed Forces’ elite technological unit with recognized expertise in electro-optics, computer vision, MEMS design and signal processing. According to Innoviz, it is supported by strategic partners and first-class investors such as Aptiv (Delphi Automotive), Magna International, Samsung Catalyst, SoftBank Ventures Korea, 360 Capital Partners, Glory Ventures, Naver and others.

Study shows the importance of the technology for the automotive industry

The study “Automotive Lidar Market for Adas and Automated Driving, Global 2016” by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan showed the importance of Lidar for autonomous driving as early as 2016. The initially still mechanical lidar systems were to be increasingly used for automated driving functions at levels three and four.

According to the study, the contactless or solid-state lidar is to enter the market nationwide by 2025. However, current developments require the use of Lidar at an earlier stage. Fully autonomous driving according to safety level 4 or 5 will become possible as early as 2021/22. This requires the use of multiple redundant sensor systems. Today available systems for semi-autonomous driving use radar and camera systems in different numbers and designs. High-resolution, affordable lidar systems with ranges of up to 300 metres are in the development stage. And start-ups like Innoviz create the necessary performance and its cost-effective availability. Lidar sensors in sensor units of driver assistance systems for automated vehicles are becoming suitable for everyday use.

With the deal, the Bavarians have secured access to the technology. The Canadian-Austrian group Magna will then ensure the necessary adaptations in the automotive industry. Thus, the Lidar software for BMW can be expected for automated driving at level 4 as well as in the full-fledged Robo-Cars of the German car manufacturer.

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