Market overview

Autonomous shuttles are vehicles that navigate autonomously at sub-50km/h speeds along predetermined, learned paths. Because of these characteristics, the shuttle segment is less regulated than the automotive market. Hence, trial deployments are anticipated to ramp up quickly.

Autonomous shuttles provide an attractive, flexible solution to move people around industrial campuses, city centers, or suburban neighborhoods, connecting such areas with main mass transit systems, greatly improving public transportation.

Many companies today are involved in the development of a variety of autonomous shuttle platforms. LiDARs for autonomous shuttles is an emerging yet very active market, with an expected CAGR of more than 50% over the next 5 years.  The sensor combination differs significantly between autonomous shuttle platforms and may include anywhere from 3 to 12 LiDARs.

LiDARs in Autonomous Shuttles

The sensor combination differs significantly between autonomous shuttle platforms and may include both mechanical scanning and solid-state LiDARs.

At the core of a typical fully autonomous shuttle lies two essential central processing units (CPUs) that work redundantly in tandem to ensure complete collision avoidance and safety: the main navigation system (robotic) CPU and the security (or safety) CPU.

The main navigation system CPU interfaces with one or a few long-range, high-resolution LiDAR sensors for localization, mapping and collision avoidance. The emergency CPU requires short to mid-range LiDARs to provide collision-avoidance perception in the dead zones close to the vehicle and is used to bring the vehicle to a complete stop when the main navigation system is unable to detect an obstacle or in case of system failure.

 

 

Application Note:
AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLES TURN TOWARDS FLASH LIDAR TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE RELIABLE AND ROBUST COLLISION AVOIDANCE DETECTION COCOON

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LeddarTech Solutions

Many autonomous shuttles today rely on a mechanical-scanning LiDAR sensor that is placed on top of the shuttle, which provides long-range detection and 360 degrees of coverage. However, the position of this mechanical-scanning LiDAR sensor creates a significant dead zone around the entire vehicle where objects or people cannot be detected.

Hence, many autonomous shuttle developers turn to solid-state Flash LiDARs to eliminate this critical detection dead zone. Flash LiDARs such as the new Leddar Pixell Cocoon LiDAR provide highly reliable detection at a much higher mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) than mechanical scanning LiDARs as well as offer 100% light density and complete coverage of the field of view. To ensure that all dead zones are covered, various combinations of 2D or 3D flash LiDARs can be implemented. With 100% solid-state design and no moving parts, the Leddar Pixell Cocoon LiDAR is the most robust LiDAR on the market today and ideal for shuttle applications.

Related Information

Leddar Pixell Cocoon LiDAR

The most robust LiDAR on the market, Leddar Pixell enables a complete detection “cocoon”, providing dependable object and vulnerable road user detection as well as exceptional robustness and durability. This 3D solid-state LiDAR represents the ideal solution for autonomous shuttle applications.

 

 

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Leddar M16 Modules

These low-cost, robust 2D solid-state LiDAR modules represent the perfect solution to develop 360-degree detection cocoons for autonomous shuttle projects.

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Video: Coast Autonomous Optimizes Shuttle Safety with Cocoon LiDARs

COAST Autonomous selects LeddarTech’s solid-state LiDAR technology as the most reliable solution to achieve maximum safety levels for its self-driving vehicles designed for campus and urban environments.

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