PowerPoint Presentation...‒Automotive qualification ‒CHEAP (

CLRC 2018Stephen Crouch , CTO

crouch@blackmoreinc.com

Intro

• Founded in 2016‒ Bozeman, MT

• Initially contract RnDheavy

• Developed HRS product as a long-range 3D imaging solution

‒ Long development cycle‒ Important experience

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Long Range

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High Resolution4

Fieldable 3D Imager5

Then we asked questions…

• What if this was “real time”?

• What if we traded range for point throughput?

• What needed to change for automotive scenarios?

• What if we could leverage trends in telecom to shrink the design?

We experimented and we gathered information

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• Billions invested in autonomous technology

• Huge uncertainty for automotive OEMs

• Simultaneous price and performance pressure

• Hype becoming reality

AD/ADAS Market

Lidar’s “Moment”

• Recognized as critical sensor for AD‒ “Poor” performance limits role to localization

‒ Target performance will increase role

• Key performance targets‒ 200m off 10% diffuse reflector

‒ Millions of points/sec

‒ 360o coverage, may use multiple sensors

• Deployment targets‒ Automotive qualification

‒ CHEAP (<$1k / vehicle)

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Automakers are asking for hundreds of

thousands of lidar units by early 2020s

Performance Barrier

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Sen

siti

vity

Transmit Power

Interference Barrier

EyesafetyBarrier

• Point throughput and range are tough specs for any technology

• Pulsed, 1550nm systems are the only direct detect systems that can hit specs

‒ More eye-safe

• Are pulsed fiber lasers scalable? Do they meet auto temperature specs?

Direct Detect Lidar Stuck Here

Coherent and Geiger-Mode

Not OK for Auto!

Critical Auto Sensor TechChips are the building blocks of sensors, Lidar has to go chip scale

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Radar GPS/IMU Vision

Coherent Lidar Chips

Photon efficiency hits specs w/ low transmit power

Low power allows integration across temperature

Photonic integration drops cost

Added bonus:Doppler sensitivity Interference rejection properties

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Blackmore Today• Building, shipping systems and integrating as we go

• Grown from 5 to 55 employees

• Recent Series B fundraise includes:

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Proving the Advantages

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Item Specification

Max Range (10% reflectivity)

200m (10% refl.)>450m range window

Point Throughput Modes 300kpts/s standard, up to 1.2Mpts/s

Velocity Dynamic Range +/- 100m/s

Velocity Resolution 0.25 m/s

FOV 40oH x 40oV

Wavelength 1550nm

Output Power 100mW CW

Eyesafety Class 1 (ANSI Z136.1-2014, IEC 60825-1:2014)

Next generation: 3x HFOV and 4x point throughput

Mobile Testing

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• Systems testing on the road for >18 months

• Critical internal feedback

Long Range Performance (waiting at a red light)

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Vehicle Location

In-N-Out Burger Sign @

200m

Structure @ 400m

Gives autonomous systems plenty of range for smooth braking

Range Performance

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Height (Altitude) Coloration

High Speed Performance

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Doppler Not an Issue at Highway Speeds

Height (Altitude) Coloration

Mapping Coverage

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Doppler supports simple removal of all transient objects in the map – accelerates map production and quality

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Pedestrian Stride in Doppler Field

Point-by-Point Velocity

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Direct velocity measurement enables segmentation and tracking

of moving objects

Velocity Coloration

Point-by-Point Velocity

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Moving targets in dense urban environments are easily

segmented and tracked

Velocity Coloration

Dense Pedestrian Tracks

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Find and track pedestrians with much simpler algorithms

Working With Partners

• Coherent lidar has a long history of “borrowing” telecom components

‒ Extremely mature supply chain

• Blackmore working with coherent telecom vendors to customize lidar specific components

‒ Coherent optical comm now mainstream‒ Vendors hungry for new opportunities‒ Key differences: linewidth, bandwidth

• Photonic integration critical to long term cost reduction

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Investing in Technology

• Low power, CW coherent lidar is inherently silicon photonics friendly

• Working with Sandia National Labs to develop Silicon photonics solid state scanning technology

• Currently testing chips

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Conclusions

• Autonomous driving forcing lidar to “grow up fast”‒ More lidar systems will be built in 2019 than in history of lidar

‒ Comparisons to telecom boom, digital cameras, automotive radar, etc.

• Automotive markets require development time and supply chain redundancy

‒ Leverage existing supply chains where they exist

‒ Invest in technology gaps with partners

Coherent is in the game

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Thank You!

crouch@blackmoreinc.com