LeddarTech: The LiDAR Technology Ace

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Charles Boulanger, CEO

“The future of the automotive market will be driven by new technologies that enable the automation of vehicles, from semi-autonomous to fully autonomous driving,” begins Charles Boulanger, the CEO of LeddarTech. Although various technologies have been tested and deployed on vehicles, such as cameras, ultrasound, and radars, there is still a strong consensus today in the industry that these sensors have many limitations and that Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) will be necessary to deploy autonomous driving (AD) capabilities in vehicles safely. That's where LeddarTech comes into the picture. The company's technology addresses the challenges of rendering LiDAR as an automotive grade, mass-market technology. To reduce LiDAR costs, LeddarTech has developed a proprietary signal processing technology which can leverage affordable, readily available optical components and deliver more performance out of specific LiDAR designs. This makes it possible to mass-produce automotive LiDARs cost-effectively. “The main challenge is to enable advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. LeddarTech's patented technology allows us to reach the performance levels expected by the automotive industry using more affordable LiDAR designs,” mentions Boulanger.

LeddarTech provides a versatile, scalable Auto & Mobility LiDAR platform based on its unique LeddarEngine, which consists of a suite of automotive-grade and functional safety certified systems on chip (SoC), that works in tandem with the LeddarSP signal processing software. The platform is used by some of the largest global automotive tier-1 suppliers to design their LiDAR solutions for OEMs. At the core of the platform, LeddarTech’s proprietary LiDAR signal processing technology delivers significant and distinct cost, performance and reliability advantages, and supports a variety of LiDAR designs and technologies, making it highly scalable and flexible.

LeddarTech's patented technology allows us to reach the performance levels expected by the automotive industry using more affordable LiDAR designs

LeddarTech’s expertise in signal processing is so compelling that some LiDAR vendors are looking into using it to improve the performance of their LiDAR designs. Further, the company's unique business model allows it to build and integrate LiDAR technology into production vehicles seamlessly which is otherwise, a complex undertaking requiring expertise at all level of the automotive value chain. “Instead of developing and delivering a finished product and ramping-up manufacturing by itself, LeddarTech has chosen to focus on its core expertise, and partner with tier-1 manufacturers to bring a variety of LiDAR solutions to market and develop a broad ecosystem of LiDAR components and software suppliers that are compatible with our LeddarEngine offering,” says Boulanger.

This combination of proprietary technology and distinctive business approach provides LeddarTech a sustainable competitive advantage that is difficult for its competitors to overcome. The company also invests heavily in R&D to maintain and enhance its technological leadership and differentiation and recently announced new R&D centers in Linz, Austria, and Toronto, Canada, as well as Montreal, Canada which is due to open in 2019.

Founded more than a decade ago with the aim of making LiDAR more affordable and easier to deploy in a wide variety of applications, LeddarTech has come a long way in enabling LiDAR designs that are compact, robust, reliable, and provide unbeatable performance-to-cost ratios. Moving ahead, the company aims to bring its technology into production cars and other mobility platforms with the goal of becoming the most widely deployed LiDAR platform. They will also be working toward enhancing LiDAR technology’s capability and benefits through sustained R&D and a comprehensive development roadmap aligned with auto and mobility requirements for both the short and the longer term. Boulanger informs, “We aim to have our LiDAR Technology deployed in production vehicles to enable active safety, driver assistance and, eventually, autonomous driving capabilities.”