Automotive technology company Veoneer has signed an agreement with lidar developer Baraja to industrialize the latter’s Spectrum-Scan Lidar technology, aimed at the next market wave of L2+ through L4 autonomous vehicle applications. Under the non-exclusive agreement, Veoneer will develop, market and integrate a scalable Spectrum-Scan platform from Baraja to serve the automotive market.
Veoneer says it chose to partner with Baraja after extensive testing, as the company offers robust technology and a development route toward the creation of smaller lidars to simplify vehicle integration. The Spectrum-Scan system connects a wavelength-tunable laser to prism-like optics, deflecting the light in different directions to achieve scanning with claimed higher reliability and lower cost. Baraja’s technology is claimed to enable excellent interference rejection and the ability to measure instantaneous velocity, which distinguishes it from traditional time of flight (ToF) approaches.
“Veoneer is a natural partner for us. We built our Spectrum-Scan technology to enable autonomous driving that is safer, more accessible and ready today for the next generation of vehicles. By combining our technology with Veoneer’s vast experience in automotive design and platform integration, this partnership helps ensure the world’s leading automotive brands can bring that autonomous reality to more people,” said Federico Collarte, founder and CEO of Baraja.
Baraja’s system creates high-resolution point clouds to accurately detect objects at a distance of more than 250m at speed while remaining immune to interference from other sensors or light sources. The technology is also more tolerant to factors that have hindered traditional lidar systems, such as heat, shock and vibration.
“Veoneer is committed to offering safe, robust, high-quality sensor solutions to vehicle manufacturers globally. We have performed extensive research among 70 lidar technology companies globally and have come to the conclusion that by partnering with Baraja, Veoneer will be able to offer and integrate scalable automotive-grade lidar sensors in future cars, at competitive prices,” concluded Jan Carlson, chairman, president and CEO of Veoneer.