As lidar technology becomes the industry standard in powering autonomous vehicles, a young startup called Altos Radar is stepping up to challenge the light-based remote sensing technology with 4D millimeter wave radar.
Based in California and founded in January, Altos Radar recently raised its first round of funding of $3.5 million from ZhenFund, Monad Ventures, and Yifan Li. The participation of Li, the founder and CEO of Hesai, a major lidar maker that racked up $190 million in an IPO in February, seems surprising at first given the battle between radar and lidar to win the AV clients. At a closer look, however, the investment indicates an interesting new development in the arena of automotive perception.
Lidar, which uses light to measure distances between objects, is currently considered more robust than radar in providing high-resolution, three-dimensional mapping. But there’s a tradeoff: high-end lidar sensors can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars, though Chinese manufacturers like DJI-affiliated Livox and RoboSense have brought their costs down significantly.Li Niu, co-founder and CEO of Altos Radar, is convinced that millimeter wave radar is advancing at a pace that makes it a strong substitute for lidar in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or even autonomous driving.
“Lidar only came to the fore as autonomous driving emerged. In the early stage of development, companies worked to make the sensors as powerful as possible at all costs. But as we progress into the second half of the competition, the focus shifts towards generating tangible value,” suggested Niu.
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