Argo AI has made waves in the autonomous vehicle space in recent years, with investors Volkswagen and Ford work on cars that use its autonomous driving technology. The company suggests it has taken an important step in bringing autonomous vehicles to the roads. Argo has created a LiDAR sensor that is said to have a range of 400 meters, that it believe This is the longest range of all current LiDAR sensors.
The Argo Autonomous Driving System (SDS) can detect hard-to-see objects more accurately and at a greater distance, the company claims. It can apparently spot distant objects that have low reflectivity (less than 1% of light) even at night and scan the environment with photorealistic imagery. Among other Argo claims, the SDS can handle sudden transitions in light levels – for example, when a vehicle enters or leaves a tunnel – and detects small moving objects such as animals.
Since SDS is aware of its surroundings at all times of the day, it can safely drive vehicles on city streets, suburbs and on highways, according to Argo. Company CEO Bryan Salesky said the system “takes us to a whole new level of autonomous driving technology, freeing up our ability to power both delivery and remote support services.”
At the heart of Argo’s LiDAR is “Geiger mode” detection, which is said to be capable of detecting single photons of light. This was meshed with a high wavelength operation greater than 1400 nanometers. The system is based on a single sensor, which has been designed to be cost effective and for large scale manufacturing.
Argo is testing the sensor in certain Ford Fusion Hybrid sedans and Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs, according to TechCrunch. By the end of the year, Argo plans to move its test fleet entirely to 150 Escape Hybrids, which will all be equipped with the sensor.
The technology could be on its way to Ford and VW commercial vehicles in the near future. Ford plans to roll out robot taxis and autonomous delivery vehicles next year, although VW will not start AV business operations until at least 2025.
However, Argo’s LiDAR system range may be outdated in the future. Continental and AEye Claim they’re working on a sensor with a range of up to one kilometer, but it probably won’t go into production until 2024.
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