LEADERS' OUTLOOK
Our Goal is to Make LiDAR Ubiquitous systems to address our most pressing problems, which includes mitigation of climate events and trends. The transportation sector is a major contributor to pollution, and accounts for one-fifth of CO2 emissions globally. According to the INRIX 2020 Global Traffic Scorecard, in the United States alone, congestion — often due to transportation infrastructure inefficiency — cost USD 305 billion in 2020. The passage of comprehensive infrastructure legislation in 2021 would now see increasing change in the adoption of sustainable solutions. This includes innovations to reduce congestion and advance electric vehicles.
LiDAR for a sustainable future BY DR. TED TEWKSBURY
T ANNUAL EDITION / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022
CEO, Velodyne
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hroughout 2021, we saw supply chain operations facing immense strain from high demand and massive disruptions caused by growing port congestion and manufacturing delays. Logistics and warehouse processes were pushed to fulfill orders faster and more efficiently. This quickly led to more companies benefitting from the adoption of Industry 4.0 automation initiatives, which can be advanced with implementation of LiDAR. Mckinsey found that Industry 4.0 helped 94 percent of companies keep their operations running during the COVID crisis. These initiatives haven’t slowed down, and we foresee continued growth in the digital economy. There is also a growing commitment from governments to rebuild outdated transportation infrastructure and modernize
As we look at a world with digitized and connected vehicles and infrastructure, we know LiDAR will play a critical role. Velodyne and its partners are currently leading the industry in deploying LiDAR technology to support a more robust, sustainable transportation system. The use of LiDAR in infrastructure systems and 3D mapping will be central to making digital cities a reality. Velodyne’s 3D mapping, surveying and modeling indoor and outdoor environments are valuable to companies and municipalities for city planning. Velodyne’s sensors deliver the
As we look at a world with digitized and connected vehicles and infrastructure, we know LiDAR will play a critical role in.
accuracy and resolution needed for municipalities to measure and analyze their environments with high accuracy for city planning efforts, including for intersections, bike paths, and roadways. The versatile systems can also be configured to mobile mapping needs. LiDAR allows companies an efficient and cost-effective way to map large areas in hours, rather than weeks. LiDAR also has the power to dramatically improve the safety, sustainability and efficiency of a world in motion. There has been tremendous work done by industry to support advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles, as well as the infrastructure that will support integration of connected vehicles. While we cannot speak to when fully selfdriving vehicles will be deployed at scale, updates to performance standards and testing will be critical to progress.
LiDAR for smart infrastructure The growth in LiDAR is driven by industrial automation and robotics, intelligent infrastructure and smart cities, which are positioned to be the largest and fastest growing LiDAR markets in the coming years. We are already working with a number of customers integrating LiDAR for robotics and last-mile delivery purposes. Currently, cost is seen as a challenge for LiDAR. Our goal is to make LiDAR ubiquitous — to do that, the cost needs to go down and our technology is set up to do just this, whereas some competitors are not. Within industrial automation, robotics, and Smart Cities, we are deploying high performance sensors at an affordable price point to accelerate mass adoption.
