Hi-Resolution 4D Imaging Radar is emerging as complementary sensor to LIDAR for fully autonomous cars

Although the hardware and software technology for fully autonomous cars is ready today, the cars themselves may still be a decade or more away, vehicle experts said at the recent North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The challenge for automakers and suppliers lies in test and validation, as well as in the education of consumers and marketers. But next comes the challenge of testing and validation of a true Level 5 system. That’s a huge undertaking.” The problems of testing and validation are particularly vexing in the development of SAE Level 5 vehicles – that is, vehicles that must be able to handle every situation, all the time, without the aid of a driver. “We certainly have the technology today for a (SAE) Level 5 prototype vehicle,” Kay Stepper, vice president of automated driving and driver assistance for Robert Bosch LLC, told Design News. “We have the sensors, ECUs, actuators, and the software stack.

 

One of the prime sensors in autonomous vehicles is LiDAR that sends out short pulses of invisible laser light, and measures the time the pulses take to return to the sensor. From this, both the intensity of the target and distance can be measured with excellent accuracy. The results thus obtained can be used to construct a 3-D map of the vehicle’s surroundings. LiDAR technology can identify the contours and contrasts of obstacles which normal cameras are unable to detect, particularly in low light and low contrast situations.

 

After the tragic May 2016 accident involving a Tesla Model S which crashed into a trailer while Autopilot was engaged, Tesla speculated that a possible cause of the accident was the difficulty of the car’s cameras to identify the white trailer against the bright Florida sky. Elon Musk, had previously dismissed the need for LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), suggesting the technology “didn’t make sense” in the context of a car. He defended Tesla’s strategy of achieving “full autonomy” using only cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors

 

The 4D imaging radar is ideal for the automotive industry. It provides a highly detailed image of the environment in a wide field of view. This means it can detect obstacles on the side of the road. It can also detect smaller targets, such as a person or a bike, even if they are somewhat masked by a large object, such as a tree or truck. The imaging radar can determine whether they are moving, in which direction, and provide the vehicle with real-time situational data and alerts.

 

The autonomous driving industry today is still at a proof-of-concept phase. It relies on sensors that may not operate 100 percent of the time. High-resolution imaging radar is the only sensor that always performs at required levels. It also dramatically reduces processing power and server needs. High-quality radar post processing would resolve the current prototypes’ main problem – power consumption – by pointing camera and LiDAR only at areas of interest.

 

Last, but not least, the mass production cost of the autonomous sensor suite will need to cost less than $1,000. Some of today’s vehicles being tested use components and systems costing a hundred times this price. Since the imaging radar can achieve level 3 and higher without the need for more than one LiDAR unit per vehicle for redundancy, or possibly no LiDAR at all, it can help manufacturers reach cost reduction targets.

 

According to German supplier ZF Friedrichshafen’s CEO, Stefan Sommer, self-driving cars require multiple detection systems, including expensive LiDAR technology, if they are to be safe at high speeds. “For autonomous driving, we will need three core technologies: picture processing camera technology, short and long-range radar, and LiDAR,” Sommer added.

 

“The 4D imaging radar’s ability to detect at the longest range of all sensors,” he writes, “gives it the highest likelihood to be the first to identify danger. It can then direct the camera and lidar sensors to areas of interest, which will considerable increase safety performance.” At this distance, and for this purpose, the accuracy of the sensor can be relatively low, says Kobi Marenko, CEO and co-founder of Arbe Robotics