Aeva, the Driving Startup Founded by Former Apple Engineers, Says Its Sensor Can Detect Vehicles 500m Away

Self-driving sensor startup Aeva Technologies, founded by former Apple engineers, said on Thursday its sensor can detect other vehicles from beyond 500 meters and pedestrians from a distance of more than 350 metres.

Aeva makes a LiDAR sensor that helps cars gain a three-dimensional map of the road and can also detect the motion of distant objects, helping distinguish between non-moving objects like trees and pedestrians or cyclists. Aeva has deals with automotive suppliers Denso and ZF Friedrichshafen AG for mass production of its sensors.

The detection range of LiDAR sensors is a key metric for automakers because longer-detection ranges mean a self-driving vehicle has more time to make a decision, especially at higher speeds.

Other companies such as Aeye, which German automotive supplier Continental AG bought a stake in last year, have said they can detect other vehicles at 300 metres.

LiDARs send out laser beams and detect their reflections when they bounce back off their surroundings to generate an image. A key challenge is detecting dark objects that do not reflect much light.

Aeva said a proprietary chip it has developed allows its sensors to detect objects with below 10 percent reflectivity at long ranges.

"We aim to offer a combination of performance and scalability that we believe to be unmatched in the industry," Mina Rezk, co-founder and chief technology officer of Aeva, said in a statement.

© Thomson Reuters 2021