벨로다인 라이다(Velodyne Lidar, Inc., 이하 ‘벨로다인’)(나스닥: VLDR, VLDRW)의 알파 프라임(Alpha Prime™) 센서는 안전한 모빌리티를 위해 설계됐다.

차세대 라이다 센서인 알파 프라임은 360도 서라운드 뷰 감지 기술을 활용해 자율주행 모빌리티를 지원한다. 알파 프라임은 10여년에 걸친 라이다 개발과 학습의 산물로서 복잡한 환경에서도 고속도로를 달리는 속도로 이동하는 자율주행차를 위해 특별히 고안한 센서다. 세계 최고 수준의 시야각과 감지 범위, 해상도를 자랑하는 알파 프라임은 자동차 및 로보택시(robotaxi) 기업, 첨단 운전자 지원 시스템(ADAS) 제조업체들의 자율주행 전략을 견인하는 촉매제가 될 것으로 기대를 모은다.

우아한 디자인의 알파 프라임은 환경 인식이 까다로운 곳에서도 주행을 지원한다. 알파 프라임은 수평 360도, 수직 40도의 시야각에 전방 300m까지 사물을 인식하고 프레임율 밀도와 해상도가 뛰어나다. 이런 우수한 기능들 덕분에 다양한 환경 및 조명 조건 아래에서 자율주행이 가능하다.

알파 프라임은 반사율이 낮은 물체도 고화질 이미지로 생성할 수 있기 때문에 차량과 보행자, 기타 장애물을 추적하고 감지하기가 용이하다. 또 센서 간 간섭을 저감시켜 라이다 혼선과 환경 소음을 제거하며, 전력 효율성과 단열 성능도 뛰어나 능동 냉각 시스템을 필요로 하지 않는다.

If you want to more detail information, read the below ;

The Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) Alpha Prime™ sensor was designed to power safe mobility. It is a next generation lidar sensor that utilizes Velodyne’s 360-degree surround-view perception technology to support autonomous mobility. As a result of over ten years of lidar development and learning, the Alpha Prime is a sensor specifically made for autonomous driving in complex conditions for travel up to highway speeds. The combined range, resolution and field of view in one sensor is designed to be a catalyst to drive the autonomous strategies of automotive and robotaxi companies, as well as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

The elegantly designed Alpha Prime can support navigation in critical environmental perception challenges. It delivers a 360° horizontal/40° vertical field of view, range of 300 meters, and high resolution and point density at full frame rate. The synergy of these capabilities in a single device can enable autonomy under a wide range of environmental and lighting conditions.

The Alpha Prime offers high resolution along with robust reflectivity returns, simplifying detection and tracking of vehicles, pedestrians and other obstructions. The Alpha Prime provides industry-leading sensor-to-sensor interference mitigation, advancing the elimination of lidar crosstalk and environmental noise. It also delivers power efficiency and thermal performance without the need for active cooling.

Leading Market Position

Velodyne has dominated the lidar market for 13 years with a broad product portfolio, including the Alpha Prime. The company has 300+ customers, including nearly all of the leading global automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and leading tech companies. With 165 projects in a wide range of industries, Velodyne’s sensors are advancing innovation in autonomy and safe mobility around the world.

Recently, Velodyne was named “Hardware Supplier of the Year” in the TU-Automotive awards for its development, adoption and integration of automotive technology into vehicles. Winning this prestigious award further demonstrates how Velodyne innovations, including the Alpha Prime, are accelerating autonomous vehicle development and enhancing advanced driver assistance systems.

The Alpha Prime has demonstrated stability, reliability and resilience in rigid automotive-grade testing and validation. Velodyne has multiple global manufacturing sources that meet automotive industry production standards. Using proprietary manufacturing processes, the company can produce high-quality sensors at volume to address customer needs.

Among the robotaxi companies that are using Alpha Prime is Voyage.

“Voyage has developed and deployed self-driving cars super-charged by Velodyne’s lidar technology,” said Oliver Cameron, Voyage Co-Founder & CEO. “Our team was amazed by the advancements in the Alpha Prime and are continually impressed by Velodyne’s string of innovations.”

Alpha Prime also supports a wide variety of other applications, including mobile mapping, robotics, security and more.

Superior Low Reflectance Object Detection

The Alpha Prime enables autonomous operation within a broad range of settings, including urban and highway environments. It produces detection of dark or low reflectance objects at long distances, such as tires, dark vehicles, low reflectivity pavement and low visibility pedestrians. The sensor also delivers advanced negative obstacle perception, such as potholes and cracks in the road.

In contrast to the Alpha Prime, camera sensors suffer in low lighting conditions, struggle with optical illusions and require relatively complex computations to provide distance measurements. Looking at another sensor type in comparison with lidar, radar has lower resolution (>10 centimeters+), so a radar’s 3D image is fuzzy. Radars also have difficulty detecting stationary objects and are not generally capable of accurate object detection.

Advancing Safety

The Alpha Prime sensor produces millions of data points per second, enabling precise, reliable navigation in real time to detect objects, vehicles and people that might pose a collision threat. The Alpha Prime can help autonomous vehicles navigate roadways at various speeds, traveling in a range of conditions such as rain, sleet and snow. Equipped with the Alpha Prime, autonomous vehicles can safely and efficiently navigate in unfamiliar and dynamic environments.