As a seasoned gamer and tech enthusiast, I’ve always been fascinated by the rapid advancements in autonomous driving technology. The news about Mobileye exiting the Lidar space is a bit of a letdown for me, much like realizing that the latest expansion pack for my favorite game doesn’t quite live up to the hype.
Mobileye, a company specializing in autonomous driving technology, has declared that it will discontinue the in-house development of cutting-edge Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) lidars by the end of 2024. This decision is expected to result in the closure of their research and development unit, which may affect approximately 100 employees.
Here’s what Mobileye had to say in the press release:
In the course of reassessing our long-term technology strategy, we now find that the arrival of advanced FMCW lidar systems may not be crucial for our self-driving system plans. This conclusion is supported by several factors: significant advancements in our EyeQ6 computer vision capabilities, a clearer understanding of the performance of our homemade imaging radar, and ongoing cost savings with external time-of-flight lidar devices that surpass initial expectations.
Regarding this action, it doesn’t interfere with any of our customer product projects or overall product development. Furthermore, it has no connection to Mobileye’s dedication towards the in-house development of imaging radar, which is performing according to B-sample standards and set for production next year as planned. For Mobileye, internal sensor development prioritizes imaging radar, a key technology that we anticipate will provide a competitive edge for our eyes-off systems, enhancing cost/performance balance and scalability.
By the end of 2024, the Research and Development (R&D) department focused on Lidar technology will be closed down. This decision is likely to impact around 100 employees. The projected operational costs for this Lidar R&D unit in 2024 are approximately $60 million, with about $5 million attributed to expenses related to share-based compensation. Although this move might not significantly affect Mobileye’s financial performance in 2024, it will prevent future investments in Lidar development.
Companies similar to Tesla have been developing fully autonomous vehicles, with Elon Musk, their CEO, planning to reveal the Robotaxi prototype next month. It’s regrettable that Mobileye is leaving the Lidar field, meaning both businesses will now primarily focus on computer vision systems. Given that it rains in many places, a hybrid system combining camera and Lidar technology would seem optimal. However, recent developments have dealt a blow to this idea, as Mobileye is now concentrating on its EyeQ6-based computer vision perception system instead.
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2024-09-09 23:27