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A $100 box is the cheapest way we've seen to add LiDAR to cars
Velodyne, one of the companies that helped invent modern LiDAR, says it has developed a component that will make adding laser-based radar to autonomous cars and other vehicles more affordable. At CES, the company showed off its new Velabit LiDAR system, which it plans to sell to manufacturers for about $100 per unit.
Luminar's cheap LiDAR could be a big boost for autonomous vehicles
LiDAR (laser pulse-based radar) is an essential component of autonomous driving, as it's what vehicles use to detect obstacles like other cars or pedestrians in order to navigate around them. But LiDAR systems aren't cheap. Now, autonomous vehicle sensor and software company Luminar has announced a new platform which will be a lower-priced alternative to current LiDAR systems.
Engineer spends $6,000 invalidating Waymo's lidar patents
An engineer with no connection to the self-driving industry has spent $6,000 of his own money to stop Alphabet's self-driving car business Waymo from patenting key technology. Following a challenge filed by Eric Swildens, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected 53 out of 56 claims in Waymo's 936 patent. The reason for his action? He just "couldn't imagine the [lidar] circuit [described in the 936 patent] didn't exist prior," Ars Technica reported.
Velodyne LiDAR helps self-driving cars operate at highway speeds
Have you noticed that many self-driving car tests avoid the highway? There's a good reason for it: the LiDAR (laser pulse-based radar) cars use to navigate frequently can't handle high-detail images at the speeds and distances needed for timely reactions. Velodyne might fix that with its newly unveiled VLS-128 LiDAR system. It has 10 times more resolving power than its predecessor and can detect objects up to 300 meters (984 feet) away, helping it spot even smaller hazards at high speeds.
Here's updated mapping vehicle paves way for self-driving cars
It may have been a while since we last we came across a Here 3D mapping vehicle, but that's not to say the company hasn't been using its cars lately. In fact, the Here True collection vehicle is now in its third revision, and I got to hop on one -- based on a Volkswagen Golf Variant 280 TSI Highline -- during Computex. The ride features much faster D-GPS tracking that no longer requires a half-hour calibration (to reach an accuracy of under one meter), along with a Velodyne LiDAR with an accuracy of better than 2cm (within a range of up to 70 meters) and four 16.2-megapixel MARS panoramic cameras. This set of gear is almost identical to what we've seen before, so the real highlight this time is the updated backend to support high-definition mapping.
Take a look at Apple's self-driving test vehicle
Photos obtained by Bloomberg are giving us our first look at what appears to be a testbed for Apple's self-driving car technology. An observer caught the Lexus SUV (looking similar to the demo vehicle above) rolling out of an Apple facility in Silicon Valley, rocking an extensive kit including Velodyne LiDAR units and radar sensors, which help the car observe the world around it. Apple picked up a permit to test its autonomous technology on California streets a couple of weeks ago, and it apparently isn't waiting to get started.
Ford plans to have fully autonomous cars on the road in five years
At the Ford Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto, California the automaker announced it would have a fully autonomous car on the road with a ride sharing service in 2021. CEO Mark Fields said self-driving cars will be as important to Ford as the assembly line. "We're designing the first generation of autonomous vehicles specifically for ride sharing and ride hailing," Fields told the audience.
Ford and Baidu both keen on investing in self-driving tech
Auto manufacturer Ford and Chinese search company Baidu are hard at work resarching self-driving technology, but are obviously looking for ways to make it simpler to get things done. The two companies have just announced a joint investment of $150 million in Velodyne, a firm that creates LIDAR sensors.
Ford wants you to know it's serious about self-driving cars
CES doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but already Ford has talked up its new project with DJI to launch drones from moving vehicles, as well as impending updates to its Sync 3 connected car platform. The automotive giant is also using the biggest tech show of the year to reaffirm its commitment to self-driving vehicles, announcing that it plans to add 20 more Ford Fusion Hybrid cars to its autonomous armada in 2016. According to Ford, tripling the number test vehicles in its garage would give it the biggest fleet of any outfit working on self-driving technology.
This little laser could be the key to inexpensive self-driving cars
To listen to the Googles and the Elon Musks of the world is to believe that one day soon, we'll be tooting down in the highway in cars that control themselves. Those cars will need eyes, though, and that's where a company called Velodyne Acoustics comes in -- it whipped up the Puck, a scaled down version of the laser scanning tech that helps Google's self-driving cars see (which they also make) that only costs about a tenth of the price. Not up on the market rates for portable LiDAR arrays? Let's put it in perspective: the units Google use cost around $75,000. This new model? Just a shade under $8,000. That old cliché about getting what you pay for still holds true here, though -- this cheapo LiDAR array only has 16 lasers with which it scans the world, down from the 64 seen in higher-end units. As a result we're looking at a pretty staggering dip in the sheer number of environmental data points, but the unit's smaller size and price tag just might mean big things for car companies trying to craft the first truly affordable wave of autonomous cars.
Velodyne vQuiet active noise-canceling headphones (ears-on)
Velodyne is a name closely associated with subwoofers, but the company also knocks-out portable audio gear, too. The vQuiet, as you may have guessed, is Velo's first pair of active noise canceling headphones -- hopefully ensuring that your jams are more listenable on the rowdy floor of a busy trade show. In our very short time with the gear, we found that Bob Dylan's quiet-voiced bootlegs were a little more audible with the head wear activated than not. Of course, we'd rather spend a little more time with them before making a final judgment, but until then, the vQuiet will arrive more generally in October for $299 -- offering you a choice between them and the ever-present Bose sets that you see during those long-haul flights. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Nokia Here collection vehicle v2.0 ride-along (video)
What do the Lumia 920, Surface Pro, Velodyne LIDAR, NovAtel GPS and Jetta TDI wagon all have in common? They're all essential parts of the next generation Nokia Here collection vehicle. When Here was announced last fall, we checked out v1.0 of the car which featured an elaborate but clunky set of sensors and cameras. That's also when Nokia announced it was acquiring Earthmine, a Berkeley-based 3D-mapping company. Nine months later, we're seeing the results of this collaboration with v2.0 of the collection vehicle. It's a simpler and more advanced setup which provides much improved image quality. Nokia recently invited us to take ride in a next generation Here car -- check out the gallery below then hit the break for our video and breakdown of the technology.
Velodyne spells out details on Impact subwoofers
We gave a heads up on Velodyne's new Impact line of subwoofers just before CEDIA, and even though it's taken a bit longer than we expected, now we have some details to share. There are three models to choose from: the Impact-Mini (6.5-inch forward-facing driver, a 8-inch passive radiator on the bottom and a 300-Watt amp), and the Impact-10 and Impact-12 featuring downward-firing ports, 250- and 275-Watt amps respectively, and driver sizes you can probably guess from the model names. Prices are definitely on the affordable end of Velodyne's range, coming in at $549, $399 and $499 for the Impact-Mini, Impact-10 and Impact-12, respectively.
Velodyne's latest subwoofers at CEDIA: eyes-on
In case you've never had the privilege of attending a trade show, here's a fact: the lighting is horrid. It's tough enough to take decent photographs as-is, but when the floor underneath of you is rumbling the entire time, crisp images are even harder to come by. So yeah, you'll have to forgive us if any of the pics of Velodyne's latest families are a tad out of focus, but believe us when we say every single one was fit for a king. Or a rock star. Or you.%Gallery-31311%
Velodyne gets ready to rumble at CEDIA with new subwoofers
Velodyne sure has been keeping quiet of late, but now we know why -- it's been saving it all up for a CEDIA extravaganza. From the top, it'll be introducing the Optimum-8, 10 and 12 subs, which feature up to 1,200-watts (RMS) of amplification, interactive front panel displays and an automated, one button 7-band equalizer. Moving on, we've got the in-wall SC-600, Class D-powered DEQ-R (in 8-, 10-, 12- and 15-inch models) and the small(er) Impact line, which boasts a 6-inch forward firing driver and an 8-inch down-firing passive driver. Expect prices and availability to surface within a few days.
Radiohead's 'House of Cards' video gets 3D, interactive, and extremely trippy
Leave it to Radiohead to do something twisted, innovative, and defiantly futuristic to the art of the music video. Instead of going with underwater singing, fully animated epic, or a mysterious series of "blips," the band decided to forgo the use of cameras altogether for their latest single, House of Cards. Using 3D video acquisition systems from Geometric Informatics, and 64-element, 360-degree LIDAR from Velodyne, the band was able to create a clip that eschews traditional video recording for haunting, complex data visualizations. You can watch the video after the break, or you can get your hands dirty with a real time, interactive version you'll find by following the read link. Either way, your mind should be thoroughly blown.
Velodyne, Amina team up to deliver full-range in-wall speaker systems
If your home decor demands that you go for an invisible AV install, you can either build a separate HT room to house your gear or opt for in-wall speakers. Velodyne and Amina have teamed up (at least in the UK) to make sure that sound quality isn't compromised if you go the in-wall route. Pairing up Velodyne's SC-IW in-wall subwoofers with Amina's SoundUnseen in-wall AIW speakers turns out to enjoy a Reese's-like synergy. Mounting a subwoofer in a wall seems like a recipe for nasty vibrations, but Velodyne has pulled a clever bit of design with the SC-IW and aligned the driver to fire vertically in the wall. For its part, the Amina speakers actually get a thin layer of plaster applied over them for a truly seamless look. This kind of stuff is definitely custom-install only, so we can only hope similar partnerships get struck up on this side of the Atlantic.
