Tesla has long been a staunch supporter of computer vision technology, and has repeatedly complained in public that "fools use lidar." But according to a study, technology-oriented experts believe that radar technology is the foundation for safe driving, and experts judge that this technology is crucial to achieving level 4 autonomy.
Tesla has long been a staunch supporter of computer vision technology, and has repeatedly complained in public that "fools use lidar."
But technology-oriented experts believe that radar technology is the foundation for safe driving, and experts judge that this technology is crucial to achieving level 4 autonomy.
Radar can bring some key sensing advantages to vehicles compared to other automotive sensors.
Radars operate in the wavelength range from centimeters to millimeters, which makes them very powerful when defending against harsh weather such as fog, rain, dust, and more. Other advantages include measuring distance and speed at the same time, as well as excellent performance in direct sunlight. New launch modes are unleashing more benefits, such as digital radar propelled by startup Uhnder to reduce interference. All these benefits are realized while maintaining a very attractive price point for automakers.
Source: IDTechEx
Reports have found that 41% of new cars worldwide will have automatic emergency braking as standard, and about 15% will be optional. In the vast majority of cases, automatic emergency braking relies on the radar's sensing capabilities. The security benefits of this feature make it increasingly mandatory by security agencies and will be one of the drivers of future radar adoption.
Many ADAS features, such as adaptive cruise control or automatic emergency braking, are built on top of the capabilities of the front radar. Safety advantages have prompted regulators and safety agencies such as Euro NCAP to push for the installation of automatic emergency braking on all new vehicles. Over the past decade, the performance of radar sensors in terms of angular and altitude resolution, accuracy, and distance has improved rapidly. Tier 1 suppliers such as Bosch, Continental and Denso offer products that are orders of magnitude better than comparable products from 5-10 years ago.
Improving radar performance could eventually threaten the lidar market
There were studies of 8 start-ups and 5 Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers. Startups such as Uhnder and Arbe are using Si-CMOS-based technology to take radar performance to unprecedented heights. The angular resolution achieved by these major players is entering the 0.5°-1° range, which is beginning to erode the performance of lidar, typically achieving angular resolution of 0.05°-0.5°. Therefore, IDTEchEx believes that it can be said that radar is almost as good as lidar now.
IDTechEx research shows that more than two-thirds of new vehicles use SAE Level 2 autonomous driving technology. Level 3 autonomous vehicles are already on the road in Japan and will expand to more markets in 2022. The vast majority of Level 3 autonomous vehicles use radar, typically with a higher-performance long-range radar in front of it, and four short-range radars that provide a 360° perception of the cocoon around the vehicle. In this report's projections, the need for 5 units per vehicle for Tier 3 technology is a huge driver.
IDTechEx says all new cars will be equipped with radar sensors by 2042.
Predictions about the use and application of radar sensors
An exception to this rule is Tesla, which works on Level 3 and Level 4 self-driving technology (which is permitted by regulations), while using only one radar on its more upscale vehicles and only cameras on its cheaper models. Still, Tesla has been using outdated radars, and as this report shows, more advanced options are now available.
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