Princeton Lightwave (Cranbury, NJ) has formed the Automotive LiDAR Business Unit to commercialize its Geiger-mode lidar technology for the emerging driverless car market. Geiger-mode lidar has been recommended by the Auto Alliance--which represents vehicle manufacturers that produce 77% of all cars and light trucks in the United States--for its ability to sense beyond 200 meters for reducing collisions.
Sabbir Rangwala, who has been leading the company’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems activities for several years, is the unit’s president. He stated, “Long-range lidar is a critical part of the sensor suite for enabling safety at different levels of automation." He added that Princeton Lightwave is the only company with Geiger-mode lidar sensors operating beyond 1400 nm and is uniquely positioned to leverage this technology into the automotive market.
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Princeton Lightwave has commercialized Geiger-mode detectors over the past decade for 3D imaging applications in defense and mapping. CEO Mark Itzler said, “The high sensitivity of Geiger-mode detectors, which are capable of detecting even a single photon, provides unparalleled performance for high-resolution, long-range 3D lidar imagery.”
Princeton Lightwave Chairman Yves Dzialowski added that the core device technologies are semiconductor-based, so they will scale in volume to meet automotive prices.
Source:Princeton Lightwave