Cepton wins major Lidar contract with Detroit OEM
July 14, 2021 // By Christoph Hammerschmidt
Lidar sensor manufacturer Cepton Technologies has received the largest order to date for the use of lidar sensors in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for production vehicles from one of the major Detroit-based car manufacturers. This is considered a milestone for both the lidar industry and the Silicon Valley-based technology company.
The unnamed Detroit-based vehicle manufacturer is expected to use Cepton's lidar sensors in the next generation of its driver assistance systems, not just in the luxury segment, but across a range of vehicle classes and models, Cepton has revealed. This opens up the possibility of establishing lidar technology for driver assistance systems on the mass market for the first time. The start of series production is expected in 2023.
The Silicon Valley-based lidar specialist secures this major order for series production together with Koito, one of the leading Tier 1 suppliers for vehicle lighting. The automotive supplier is both a partner and investor in Cepton. As part of the collaboration, Koito will receive a non-exclusive licence from Cepton to manufacture the Vista X90, an MMT-based lidar sensor for the automotive industry. This will use key Cepton components and technologies. In the past 18 months since the contract was awarded for volume production, Cepton has made further significant progress in the product development of the Vista X90.
Due to the numerous vehicle models covered by the volume production order, it is the largest in the industry to date. Cepton anticipates that the use of lidar systems in this and future vehicle models from the automaker will significantly exceed all other publicly announced lidar series production programmes. Cepton is praising itself for this - showing that its patented MMT lidar sensors, with their rotation-free, mirrorless and frictionless technology, offer an excellent balance of performance, reliability and cost, the company said. The aforementioned factors are considered to be decisive key factors for ADAS lidar systems in series production. Cepton's MMT lidar systems are also characterised by their compact size and low power consumption. This increases the flexibility of integration and allows them to be installed in different places in the vehicle, such as in headlights, on the roof or behind the windscreen.
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