Mobileye announces the termination of in-house development of next-generation frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar for autonomous and highly automated driving systems. The LiDAR R&D department will be disbanded by the end of 2024, affecting about 100 employees......
Recently, Mobileye announced the end of in-house development of next-generation frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar for autonomous and highly automated driving systems. The LiDAR R&D department will be disbanded by the end of 2024, affecting about 100 employees. Mobileye expects operating expenses for its LiDAR R&D division to total approximately $60 million in 2024 (including approximately $5 million related to equity incentive expenses).
Mobileye believes that the availability of next-generation FMCW lidar has diminished in importance in its "roadmap for non-visual systems." In addition, the company has made substantial progress in its EyeQ6-based computer vision perception technology, with further clarification of the performance of its in-house developed imaging radar and a larger-than-expected cost reduction in time-of-flight (ToF) lidar devices developed by third-party vendors.
Due to the uncertain demand environment, Mobileye chose to streamline its operations in response to market changes. At the same time, the cost savings of third-party ToF lidar were better than expected, which was one of the important factors in Mobileye's decision to close its in-house FMCW lidar R&D department.
Mobileye's imaging radar has reached B-sample-based performance specifications and is expected to go into production next year as planned.
Imaging radar is a strategic priority for Mobileye in its internal sensor development projects. "This is a core building block technology that we anticipate will give Mobileye-based visual-free systems a competitive advantage in terms of cost/performance optimization and scalability," Mobileye said. ”
The termination of LiDAR represents a significant shift in Mobileye's autonomous driving technology strategy, a move that will not impact Mobileye's customer product plans or product development, and will not have a significant impact on 2024 results, but will reduce future spending on LiDAR R&D.
Mobileye's shares fell 2.6% on the announcement of the termination of in-house research and development of lidar.
FMCW lidar is prohibitively expensive
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is an optical remote sensing technology that uses laser beams for detection and ranging. Specifically, lidar consists of a laser transmitting unit, a receiving unit, a scanning system, and an information processing unit.
Lidar technology is divided into time-of-flight (ToF) lidar, frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar, and imaging radar.
ToF lidar calculates distance by measuring the time interval between the emitted laser pulse and the target echo pulse. Specifically, the laser emits a laser pulse, and when the pulse hits an object and is reflected back, the receiver records the time when the echo signal arrives, thus calculating the target distance. The ToF LiDAR system has simple structure, low cost, fast response speed and high detection accuracy, and is suitable for medium and short distance ranging. However, there are also distance blind zones, which cannot measure objects in close range; Spatial resolution is limited by pulse width.
FMCW lidar uses frequency-modulated continuous-wave signals for ranging and velocity. Compared with traditional pulsed lidar, FMCW lidar has the advantages of strong anti-bad weather interference ability, high integration, high sensitivity and high signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, FMCW lidar can also achieve good imaging results in complex environments. Compared with ToF, the cost of FMCW lidar is higher.
Imaging radar generally refers to millimeter-wave or microwave imaging radar, which generates an image of a target by emitting electromagnetic waves and receiving the reflected signal. Imaging radar can generate two- or three-dimensional images of the target area, and is widely used in autonomous vehicles, weather detection, and other fields.
With the increasing penetration of new energy vehicles and the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies, the demand for lidar is also increasing, and its application is growing rapidly.
Today's lidar is still too expensive, mainly used in models priced at 200,000 yuan, including Xpeng and Weilai have basically given up the use of lidar in the second brand models, and turned to pure vision or light sensor solutions.
The application of lidar in new energy vehicles is not limited to the current L2+ and L3 levels of autonomous driving, but will also move towards higher-level autonomous driving technology in the future. For example, Level 5 autonomous driving typically requires four to six lidars to ensure safety.
Imaging radar is a strategic priority for Mobileye
The main difference between imaging radar and lidar is the different wavelengths used.
Lidar uses visible or near-infrared light, while imaging radar uses microwaves or millimeter waves. In terms of anti-jamming and penetration, imaging radar may be superior to lidar.
Mobileye's imaging radar technology has made significant progress in recent years. Mobileye has partnered with Wistron NeWeb Corp. to produce its software-defined imaging radar, which is expected to reach mass production in 2025.
Last September, Mobileye partnered with Valeo to develop the world's leading imaging radar. Mobileye and Valeoda believe that as one of the key components of autonomous driving sensing systems, imaging radar will become a supporting component for more advanced ADAS solutions and autonomous driving functions.
Mobileye's imaging radar uses an advanced radar architecture, including massive MIMO (multiple receiving, multiple transmission) antenna design, self-developed high-end RF design, and high-fidelity sampling technology, which enable imaging radar to achieve accurate object detection and wider coverage.
It is reported that Mobileye's imaging radar is designed with an integrated system-on-chip to maximize processor efficiency and uses leading radar data parsing algorithms to provide detailed four-dimensional images of the surrounding environment from 300 meters to longer distances. With a mid-range 140-degree field of view and a close-range 170-degree field of view, the radar can more accurately detect pedestrians, vehicles, or obstacles that other sensors might ignore, even on congested city streets.
英特尔营收收紧,准备卖了Mobileye?
It is reported that Mobileye's decision to terminate the internal development of LiDAR is an independent decision regarding the company's future technology investment, based on considerations such as the market economics of LiDAR, the project timeline planning of the product, and the need for funds.
Mobileye's plan to develop FMCW lidar is around 2021, and it was originally planned to start mass production of FMCW lidar from 2027 to 2028. Mobileye's expectation is that 2028 will be the year when demand for this product will explode, and it will continue to explode.
So far, although many companies have also bet on this track, ToF has still been the mainstream LiDAR ranging route in the market in recent years.
At the same time, Mobileye has also been affected by factors such as the downturn in the new energy market, and is heading for a third consecutive year of losses. Mobileye's financial report shows that the company's preliminary performance in 2023 is generally poor, and the annual outlook is lower than market expectations due to high customer chip inventories, which further drags down the stock price.
As of Sept. 5, Mobileye's share price has fallen about 71% this year, giving it a market capitalization of about $10.2 billion.
Mobileye has also slashed its revenue and profit forecasts for 2024. Mobileye expects full-year revenue to be in the range of $1.6 billion to $1.68 billion and adjusted operating profit to be in the range of $152 million to $201 million due to the instability in the Chinese market.
Founded in 1999, Mobileye's core business includes the development of vision sensors, chips and software solutions for autonomous driving and ADAS, including the EyeQ family of system integration chips.
Mobileye was acquired by Intel in 2017, which was an important part of Intel's autonomous driving space at that time.
Recently, due to the decline in Intel's operating performance, as well as huge losses in the foundry business and weak market demand, Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Intel is considering selling Mobileye in the process of conducting a comprehensive evaluation of its strategy.
Last year, Intel sold a portion of Mobileye's stake and received about $1.5 billion from the deal. If Intel tries to raise money by selling more of Mobileye's shares, it's a sign that Intel and Mobileye are going through a tough time.
From: Electronic Engineering Special Album Reprinted by Chen Changjun of the Yangtze River Delta G60 Laser Alliance