Lidar manufacturer Luminar has received plenty of media attention over the past half dozen years or so, including for its founder and CEO Austin Russell who became the youngest “self-made” billionaire when the company went public in 2021. Luminar has garnered a number of prominent design wins in recent years, but program delays mean very few vehicles with its Iris sensor have actually been produced yet. 2024 could well be the company’s breakout year, but even before those vehicles hit the street, Luminar has more news at CES 2024 including an interesting new collaboration with Mercedes-Benz and some enhanced driver assistance software.
Luminar’s first production program for SAIC’s RisingAuto R7 in China, shipments of which began in the fall of 2022, but so far only just over 7,000 units have been sold. The company’s first giant-scale program is expected to launch in spring 202, four with the Volvo EX90, a giant new electric SUV from the Swedish automaker owned by Geely. The EX90 will be supplied with the Luminar Iris as popular equipment. This will be followed by the Polestar, which runs on the same platform. In 2025, Polestar is also expected to launch an edition of the Polestar four with Mobileye’s Chauffeur automated driving formula that will also come with the iris sensor.
In preparation for the start of production of Volvo and Polestar vehicles, Luminar recently completed production of its first sensor at a plant in Monterrey, Mexico, at full production speed. Luminar doesn’t say exactly what that run rate is, but doing it consistently will. be key to meeting visitors’ expectations.
In 2022, Mercedes-Benz and Luminar announced that future vehicles from the German luxury brand would also utilize the Florida-based startup’s laser sensor technology. While no production volumes, timing or even models have been announced yet, this will likely be on Mercedes-Benz new range of EVs based on its Mercedes Modular Architecture that is used on the Concept CLA that is also being shown in North America for the first time this week at CES. The first MMA vehicles are expected to arrive in 2025.
In addition to mass-produced vehicles, Luminar has another attractive task announced at CES. It is working with the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team to install lidar on the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, which is used as one of F1’s protective race cars. Safety cars are brought to track races and practice sessions when there is a hazard, such as a twist of fate or heavy rain, and race cars want to be guided and limited in speed. The GT Black Series is one of the two protection cars. lately in use, the other being an Aston Martin Vantage.
Since safety vehicles are used when there may be debris on the track or sheriffs are cleaning up injured vehicles or tending to injured drivers, lidar should help alert the driver so they can query the terrain without causing further injuries or accidents. Even though speeds are reduced from general racing speeds that can exceed 200 mph during safe periods, the cars still move very fast. To be useful in those conditions, a lidar would need a great deal of diversity and the best solution to find smaller objects, made of black carbon fiber that would possibly have low reflectivity.
At its March 2023 investor day, Luminar announced an improved edition of its existing Iris sensor called Iris, which is thinner and also expected to be less expensive. In addition to its hardware, Luminar also develops trusted assistance software and driving force to be provided to automakers. Luminar has been publicly showcasing its automatic emergency braking software powered through the Iris sensor since 2022. With the next-generation sensor, it has now added Automatic Emergency Steering (AES) to enable evasive maneuvers around hazards.
Some automakers, such as Ford, come with evasive steering assist that uses forward-facing cameras to provide extra boost when a potential collision is detected and the driver performs an evasive maneuver. As a solution than radar sensors, AES can react earlier and with potentially less excessive manoeuvres, even without driver intervention.
Kodiak Robotics Automated Truck with Luminar Iris Lidar Integrated with Side Mirror Sensor Modules
Luminar not only concentrates on light vehicles, but also works with several automated transport companies. In the past, it was a long-range lidar supplier to Torc Robotics, owned by Daimler Trucks North America. Gatik, which develops automated medium-haul delivery trucks, has also chosen to use Luminar sensors as a component of a multi-year production contract.
Kodiak Robotics has also been using the Luminar Iris since at least 2022 as part of its sensor pod design that integrates cameras, radar and lidar into the side mirror housing. This design enables rapid swaps of the entire pod if any of the sensors need servicing. A pod can be replaced and calibrated in about 1 hour, allowing the truck to get back into service while the pod is repaired off-line. Kodiak is continuing to use Luminar Iris lidar for its sixth generation automated driving system.