According to reports, ABI Research expects that by 2025, shipments of consumer vehicles equipped with SAE Level 3 and Level 4 autopilot technology will reach 8 million vehicles. At that time, although drivers are still needed, under certain circumstances, Safety critical functions are handed over to the in-vehicle system for processing. If SAE Level 5 autopilot is implemented, there is really no need to configure the driver. This means that the shipment of lidar sensors will also be driven by autonomous driving technology. It is estimated that by 2025, the number of Lidar shipments will reach 36 million, and its market value will reach 7.2 billion.

Shiv Patel, R&D analyst at ABI Research: “The main functional sensor gap between the ADAS system and the high-level autopilot system will now be filled by lidar, which will help provide reliable obstacle detection, simultaneous positioning and maps. Build (Simultaneous Location and Mapping, SLAM) function."

In addition, companies such as Innoviz and LeddarTech have also launched an emerging solid-state laser radar program that not only improves the durability of self-driving onboard sensors, but also meets the stringent pricing requirements of automotive companies.

It is estimated that by 2020, the prices of low-end and high-end laser radar equipment will be reduced to 200 US dollars/a and 750 US dollars/a respectively. If this price is reached, this means that autonomous vehicles can be equipped with a variety of sensors, and it is also feasible for car companies to adopt solid-state laser radar for high-end vehicles.

In fully automated driving applications, for example, an autopilot shared car that achieves SAE Level 5 autopilot can completely eliminate the need to configure the driver, which of course is relatively expensive. The traditional mechanical laser radar scheme, because of its high resolution and reliable sensing performance, is also a good choice for car companies.

Although the performance of solid-state lidars continues to increase, in the short term, mechanical radars are still the choice of car companies, and this product helps speed up the development of fully self-driving cars.