From the technical point of view, there are two main types of laser radar for automatic driving: the first is a mechanical scanning radar, multiple lasers rotate 360 degrees side by side around the axis, each laser scans a plane; the second is an all solid state laser Radar, this technology is not a common mechanical scanning method. Unlike the first technology, which produces mechanical motion, it is considered to be the future direction of laser radar.
“The green laser pointer radar originated from abroad, and some foreign companies have been researching and developing history for decades. Although laser radar is used for autonomous driving in recent years, foreign companies with long history have seized the opportunity, and now many cars Enterprises also use products from foreign companies. However, with the emphasis on new energy vehicles and smart manufacturing in China in recent years, many companies in China have begun to focus on laser radar. At present, mechanical scanning radars are more mature, but all-solid-state laser radars R & D is also booming.” Liu Bo introduced.
Beike Tianhui is a high-tech enterprise located in Haidian District, Beijing, with 18 years of accumulation of laser radar technology. In 2015, Beike Tianqi started the development of smart cars and intelligent robot navigation laser radars, and officially entered the automotive industry. Zhang Hanqing, assistant to the general manager, introduced that Beike Tianqi uses completely independent research and development of chips and semiconductor technology, which is more concise and efficient than traditional assembly technology. Therefore, it is also the only high-tech enterprise in China that realizes independent research and development and mass production of high-end laser radar equipment. According to reports, in March of this year, Beiketian painted two products obtained the radar radiation safety certificate issued by the US FDA, and was allowed to enter the US market for sale.
Although it has achieved good results in the field of mechanical scanning radar, Zhang Hanqing believes that the strategic focus of the future development of Beike Sky is the all-solid-state laser radar. “Our all-solid-state laser radar is developed using the 3D-Flash technology path and will release its all-solid-state Lidar products this year.”
Beijing Drinking Ice Technology Co., Ltd. is a start-up company focusing on the application of green laser pointer sensors in the field of automatic driving and intelligent transportation. General Manager Jiang Bo introduced that in the world, Lidar is still in the stage of R&D and testing for automatic driving, and there is still a gap from the production of vehicles. “In addition to the technical difficulty brought by the high quality and reliability requirements of radar products, the price is difficult to pass the ‘blocking the road’. The price of foreign 64-line laser radar is as high as 70,000 US dollars, which is more than the price of a car. Expensive.” Jiang Bo analyzed that laser radar has high requirements for the production of the entire industrial chain, and the complicated and complicated process makes it difficult to reduce the cost. “Drinking ice technology mainly develops all-solid-state laser radar. We believe that this will be an opportunity for Chinese companies to hope to achieve cornering overtaking at this point.”
In order to avoid the automatic driving to the old road of lack of core, Jiang Bo said frankly, from the beginning they are committed to starting from the most basic chip development, the upstream products selected are also Chinese enterprises. “China’s lack of core pain can not be repeated in the autonomous driving industry, we must firmly grasp the core technology in our hands.
Liu Bo introduced that laser radar is mainly composed of laser light source, detector and information processor. The core component of the light source part is mainly laser diodes. As far as he knows, the laser diodes used by domestic companies are mostly from foreign companies. “There is currently no company in the country that can make laser diodes that meet the requirements of laser radar.” The core component of the detector section is an avalanche diode. “This part of the situation is better than the situation of laser diodes. Although foreign products are superior in performance, there are some companies in China that are catching up and making great progress.