Valeo targets autonomous vehicles with lidar upgrade

Third-generation system from French car parts giant said to improve range and resolution dramatically. Valeo, one of the world's largest providers of car parts and a leading supplier of sensors for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), is set to release new scanning lidar technology with claims of much-improved range and resolution. The Paris-listed company, which manufactures its lidar systems in southern Germany, says that the "third-generation" design will be launched to the market in 2024. "This new technology, which offers significantly enhanced performance, makes autonomous mobility a reality and provides previously unseen levels of road safety," announced the firm. The system is said to be capable of reconstructing a 3D real-time image of the vehicle's surroundings at a rate of 4.5 million pixels and 25 frames per second. "Compared with the previous generation, the resolution has been increased 12-fold, the range 3-fold, and the viewing angle 2.5-fold," Valeo added.