ADAS and AD technology developer Terranet has successfully showcased its patented VoxelFlow sensor technology in a joint project with Mercedes-Benz. The company says that its system uses high-speed sensor technology which enables AD systems and ADAS to quickly and accurately understand what’s in front of them, enhancing existing radar, lidar and camera systems that particularly struggle at distances of 30-40 meters.
The project saw the system’s sensor data fed into a safety map for the Mercedes-Benz navigation system ‘LiveMap’. The two technologies working together were able to dynamically perceive moving objects and subsequently recognize events and hazard spots.
Key to the systems operation is that it uses 3D voxels rather than the 2D pixels generated by most vision systems, and is capable of processing 250,000 voxels per second. Terranet expects that by the end of 2021 the system will be able process over a million voxels, giving driving automation systems the ability to navigate roadways using 3D datapoints. The company notes its system will also enhance existing radar, lidar and camera systems, particularly in inclement weather.
The VoxelFlow system consists of three cameras and a continuous laser scanner, whose simultaneous observations use triangulation to generate a 3D image within nanoseconds. The system is then able to detect, track and trace that 3D image, in addition to specifying velocity, speed, direction and position.
Terranet claims its system cuts AD and ADAS reaction distance from 6m to 12cm and will be 50 times faster than existing technology.
