Gpixel has partnered with Lumotive to release a design platform for developing lidar sensors.
The M30 reference design platform will be announced and demonstrated at Vision Stuttgart this week.
The platform comprises Lumotive’s LM10 LCM beam steering chip and Gpixel’s GTOF0503 time-of-flight sensor, and is designed to speed the adoption of next-generation 3D lidar sensors for mobility and industrial applications.
“Autonomy and automation are the future, and 3D sensing using lidar is a key enabler for both these megatrends,’ said Rakinder Grover, Vice President Strategy and Partnerships at Lumotive. “We are delighted to be working with Gpixel to deliver the industry’s first-ever lidar 2.0 reference design based on our transformative optical semiconductor solutions for high-volume mobility and industrial products that require feature-rich, cost-effective, solid-state lidar capabilities.”
Unlike traditional flash illumination solutions, lidar sensors based on LCM electronic beam steering have numerous advantages such as: excellent outdoor range performance; software-defined scan modes for increased and application-specific performance (range, field of view, frame rate, resolution); reduced multipath effects resulting in better point cloud quality; optimisation of illumination across the field of view in high ambient light levels and for varying levels of reflectivity; and improved interference mitigation from other sensors.
“The pairing of Gpixel’s GTOF0503 indirect time-of-flight image sensor with Lumotive’s LM10 beam steering chip provides an ideal solution for medium to long range 3D applications, and highlights both the precision and flexibility offered by Gpixel’s sensor,” said Wim Wuyts, Chief Commercial Officer at Gpixel. “We are especially excited about the performance enhancements possible for robot navigation in logistics environments, where Lumotive’s lidar solution offers improved speed and accuracy.”
The first version of the M30 reference design platform is currently being evaluated by a number of leading lidar systems developers, ToF camera makers, and industrial OEMs. The next generation of the platform with enhanced performance and optimised for volume manufacturing is expected to be available by mid-2023.
Lumotive’s LCM beam steering chip interoperating with Gpixel’s time-of-flight sensor will be demonstrated for the first time at the Gpixel booth at the Vision trade fair, booth 8B40.
