As a leading LiDAR manufacturer for the automotive industry, Innoviz has pioneered the LiDAR sensing technology that enables truly hands-free, eyes-off autonomous driving features in passenger vehicles when combined with other sensor modalities like cameras and radar. onsemi collaborated with Innoviz to deliver InnovizOne, Innoviz’s first commercially available LiDAR product for the automotive market.
Marking significant advancements for the industry, InnovizOne features the onsemi ArrayRDM-0112 12-channel silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array for detection of returned laser pulses to measure the distance to its surroundings. SiPM technology, rooted in high-volume CMOS silicon foundry processes, offers a distinct advantage over detectors found in higher-cost 1550 nm-based shortwave-infrared LiDARs. SiPMs utilize a very high gain to detect single photons, making them superior to lower-sensitivity avalanche photodiode detectors that limit the ranging distance of LiDARs.
Innoviz has had a major focus on providing high-performance LiDAR at the lowest possible cost to allow for its wider adoption by automotive OEMs, enabled by their use of 905 nm-based, near-infrared direct time-of-flight LiDAR architecture.
In 2018, BMW selected the InnovizOne in conjunction with Magna as the provider of LiDAR technology for future passenger vehicle platforms. After several years of development, the InnovizOne entered series production in 2023 with BMW outfitting their flagship 7-Series passenger vehicles such as the i7 with LiDARs to enable BMW Personal Pilot – true Level 3 “eyes off” autonomous driving being rolled out to drivers in Germany in the spring of 2024. Innoviz also recently announced BMW’s expansion of the InnovizOne into the Chinese market on the mainstream 5-Series vehicle platforms, an exciting development that signals LiDAR becoming a sensor to outfit not just high-end luxury vehicles but reaching the mainstream to enable safe autonomous driving for the mass market.
In this blog, we discuss the collaboration with Omer Keilaf, CEO of Innoviz, to get his insights on the importance of LiDAR technology in enabling vehicle autonomy, the challenges of bringing this technology to the mass market, and more.
For those who are not familiar with Innoviz, can you summarize what makes the company’s offering unique in the LiDAR space?
Since its inception, Innoviz has always put the focus on exceptional technology, tailored to the OEM needs, fusing advanced hardware and software solutions at a lower price. This approach enables the integration of advanced autonomous features across the industry. A significant aspect of our uniqueness comes from collaborations like ours with onsemi, leveraging their expertise in high-performance SiPM sensors. This collaboration aligns with our shared vision for automotive LiDAR, favoring the 905nm NIR dToF technology, which is crucial for achieving the long-range detection capabilities essential for modern autonomous vehicles.
The long collaboration between onsemi and Innoviz goes back to when Innoviz was a startup company. Can you talk about how working with a long-time automotive semiconductor supplier like onsemi on a critical piece of technology in your system helped Innoviz bring its product to market with a leading OEM like BMW?
Our collaboration with onsemi has been foundational, particularly in developing our first commercial product, InnovizOne. onsemi's high-performance SiPM sensors enhanced our LiDAR's sensitivity and range, setting it apart from traditional solutions. This collaboration, rooted in onsemi's extensive automotive history, highest quality level with the required procedures to support the automotive industry, together with the company’s existing relationships, expedited our development process and ensured compliance with the stringent standards of leading OEMs like BMW. Our joint approach, characterized by transparent problem-solving and close cooperation during automotive qualifications, has been instrumental in our success.
What were some of the challenges in bringing this new technology all the way to production?
Scaling up production for high-volume demands while demonstrating unmatched reliability and safety is an incredible challenge. Working closely with onsemi, we adopted an "all-hands-on-deck" approach to engineering challenges and maintained open communication with Tier-1s and OEMs, which played a crucial role in overcoming these obstacles and achieving production readiness. onsemi’s ability to offer the highest performance SiPM sensor to achieve Innoviz’s ranging requirements has been an additional critical component for bringing this technology to automakers.
The automotive industry is notoriously challenging on a number of fronts, including cost pressure, adoption of new technology, and meticulous safety and reliability. How was Innoviz able to successfully navigate these challenges and build the credibility to be recognized as a direct system supplier to some of the world’s biggest automotive manufacturers?
Working in a field that requires precision and consistency meant that every aspect of our product had to be meticulously designed, tested, and validated to meet the rigorous requirements of automotive applications, and our R&D prowess and innovation has always been our secret sauce in overcoming difficulties. The relationships we've built have allowed us to align our technology with the needs of automotive OEMs, thereby establishing the necessary trust and credibility. onsemi has a wealth of automotive experience and quality customer base that enables Innoviz to produce and deliver quality products for an automotive industry that is on the cusp of achieving next-generation autonomy. Our strategic relationship with onsemi, focusing on a forward-thinking roadmap, has been vital in navigating challenges and securing our position as a direct LiDAR supplier.
Going forward, what do you see as the biggest enabler for the mass adoption of LiDAR in the segment and its proliferation to the level of other sensing modalities? What are the key challenges that need to be solved to make that a reality?
Looking ahead, the key enabler for the mass adoption of LiDAR will be the continued demonstration of its safety and efficiency benefits. Now that Level 3 driving is available, more and more automakers will begin to embrace and are recognizing the value of advanced LiDAR solutions that are powering true autonomous vehicles. LiDAR is the key sensor requirement for achieving autonomy to augment existing sensor modalities and, working with onsemi on these types of innovations, has allowed for the furthering of advanced automobiles. Key challenges include reducing costs and enhancing LiDAR performance and integration with other vehicle systems.
Innoviz and onsemi have been focused on the automotive LiDAR segment with the right technical approach to enable lower cost and wider adoption of the sensing modality, starting with InnovizOne. As Innoviz continues the development of its next-gen InnovizTwo product, making LiDAR more broadly available to the market, onsemi continues to support leading companies like Innoviz who manufacture direct time-of-flight LiDAR systems with the industry’s highest sensitivity detectors to enable autonomy on the road for the masses.
Learn more about onsemi ArrayRDM-0112 and the InnovizOne
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