Recently, Aeva, LiDAR startup from California, is soon to merge with InterPrivate Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, and go public. Aeva is the third such LIDAR company that has followed this route to go public after Velodyne Lidar from San Jose, California, and Luminar, California.
A Lidar is a remote sensing technology that enables identifying the distance along with the optical distance of the object. The lidar technology helps in gathering accurate and precise data while mapping and surveying.
In October 2020, Oxbotica, an automation software company, deployed lidar units provided by Hesai Technology, a 3D sensor and technology company from Shanghai, China. The Lidar system is fitted in a level-4 autonomy vehicle Ford Mondeo.
A Lidar sensor depicts numerous advantages, such as a better range, accuracy, field-of-view, positioning, night-time performance, and weather conditioning, over other sensor systems. However, lidars face operational limitations while detecting signs and differentiating between obstacles. Consequently, lidars are used in sensor fusion-based systems, i.e., the combination of Lidars, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors, among others, for precise autonomous operations.
According to a market intelligence report published by BIS Research, the global lidar market was estimated at $1.10 billion in 2019 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.42% during the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. The market growth is driven by factors such as the increasing adoption of Lidar in automotive and construction applications and superior lidar performance over other sensors.
Lidars are used to scan the environment with a non-visible and non-harmful laser beam for object identification, measure distances, and render a 3D image of the vehicle’s surroundings. Automotive lidars are capable of performing well under all weather conditions. Additionally, the integration of data from lidars and camera systems allows the vision system to detect objects precisely. Lidar systems are currently more expensive than other types of sensors. However, technological advancements are making their production possible on a large scale at lower prices.
Lidar systems can be used for various other applications, including agriculture, mining, architecture and archaeology, transportation, forestry and environment, atmosphere, engineering and planning, industrial safety and automation, crowd monitoring, and security.
Further, lidar manufacturers have tie-ups with various OEMs for better market reach. The industry landscape is quite competitive because of the market dominance of several players in the market. Therefore, innovation and development have been the key factors for large-scale market growth. To increase their overall global footprint, lidar providers are expanding their businesses and entering strategic partnerships to increase their customer bases.
