Aeva lidar to be deployed at JFK, SFO airports, and elsewhere…

28 Oct 2024

…and Hesai signs lidar supply deal with China-based E-vehicle developer Leapmotor.

The Indoor Lab, a developer of lidar solutions, and Aeva, which supplies sensing and perception systems, have announced that Aeva is to provide lidar for The Indoor Lab’s analytics platform used to improve safety, security and operational efficiency at major U.S. airports, mass transit railways, agriculture, and in “smart infrastructure” venues across the U.S.

Aeva’s Atlas 4D lidar sensors will be integrated into The Indoor Lab’s lidar Overwatch Perception Platform that is the key driver to its Enterprise Analytics Suite for Critical Infrastructure to provide data for AI-powered analytics to monitor and manage indoor and outdoor environments.

The technology will be leveraged for its instant velocity detection, immunity to interference, and compact form factor. The multi-year agreement represents Aeva’s first industrial customer win for its Atlas system, with sensor shipments beginning this month (October, 2024) for The Indoor Lab’s initially planned customer deployments.

‘Advantages in Aeva’s 4D lidar’

“We have evaluated nearly all time-of-flight 3D lidar technologies on the market today and selected Aeva because we see significant advantages in its 4D lidar technology,” commented Patrick Blattner, founder and CEO of The Indoor Lab.

“Aeva is the first to commercialize 4D lidar for production at scale and its technology brings crucial advantages to our analytics platform, including the addition of instant velocity data and the inherent immunity to sunlight interference. By selecting Aeva, we have future-proofed our perception analytics platform and will be able to provide the most advanced solutions for our customers at scale,” Blattner said.

Together with The Indoor Lab, Aeva’s 4D lidar technology is initially planned to be implemented at some of the U.S.A’s largest and most heavily trafficked airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport’s new Terminal One and San Francisco International Airport, followed by undisclosed integrations in agriculture, and in smart infrastructure at theme parks, cities, and other large venues.

“We are seeing significant momentum in the market following recent wins in automotive and industrial including our recent selection by a top national defense security organization,” said James Byun, Managing Director of Business Development at Aeva.

“The Indoor Lab is a leader in lidar-based perception analytics and is expanding deployments rapidly at large venues and critical infrastructure sites across the U.S. Our FMCW technology will allow The Indoor Lab to deliver high-performance sensing at scale across a wide variety of indoor and outdoor customer use cases to enable improved safety, security and efficiency,” said Byun.

Hesai signs lidar supply deal with Leapmotor

Lidar systems developer Hesai Technology is to become the exclusive provider of automotive long-range lidar for China-based E-vehicle developer Leapmotor’s operating platform. The firm’s first model is expected to enter mass production in 2025.

According to the agreement, Hesai will provide lidar products for “multiple models of Leapmotor’s next-generation new vehicle platform”. The announcement added, “This exclusive partnership deepens the long-term collaboration in intelligent driving, highlighting Hesai’s leading lidar technology and Leapmotor’s continued trust in Hesai and its capabilities.

The two companies say they have together “advanced intelligent driving projects for multiple new Leapmotor models”. The Leapmotor C-series intelligent driving edition models are fitted with Hesai's ultra-high-definition long-range AT128 lidar, enabling Navigation Assist Pilot, Navigation Assisted Cruise, and other advanced intelligent driving functions.

According to Leapmotor, as of September 23rd, 2024, it has already commenced sales in Europe, with over 200 dealers across 13 countries. The company plans to expand this footprint to 500 sales points in Europe by the end of 2025. The companies say the will continue to cooperate closely on intelligent driving, to help Leapmotor accelerate its leadership in ADAS.