Velodyne Lidar Explained

Velodyne Lidar
Foundation: as Velodyne Acoustics spin-off
Founder:David Hall[1]
Location:San Jose, California, United States
Type:Public
Key People:Ted Tewksbury (CEO)
Industry:Lidar
Products:Lidar
Num Employees:407
Num Employees Year:Dec 2021
Traded As:NASDAQ:
Defunct:February 2023
Fate:Merged with Ouster
Revenue: $61.92 million (2021)[2]

Velodyne Lidar is a Silicon Valley-based lidar technology company, headquartered in San Jose, California. It was spun off from Velodyne Acoustics in 2016.[3] As of July 2020, the company has had about 300 customers.[4] Velodyne Lidar ships sensors to mobility industry customers for testing and commercial use in autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems, mapping, robotics, infrastructure and smart city applications.[5] [6] [7] In February 2023, the company merged with Ouster.

History

David Hall founded Velodyne in 1983 as an audio company specializing in subwoofer technology.[8] [9]

Velodyne's experience with laser distance measurement started in 2005, when David Hall and his brother Bruce (then president of Velodyne) entered a vehicle in a driverless car race called DARPA Grand Challenge sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).[10] The experience led them to realize shortcomings both in camera-centric approaches and in existing lidar technology, which only scanned a single, fixed line of sight.[11] Velodyne developed new sensors for the 2007 race. The brothers sold their perception detection system as a steering input to five of the six teams that finished the 2007 race. The system rotated 64 lasers and measured the time of flight to calculate distances to surrounding objects. This created a 360-degree 3D map of the environment.[12] The new system produced one million data points per second, while earlier systems produced 5,000 data points per second.[11]

Velodyne donated one of its early prototype sensors to the Robotics Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in 2011.[13] [14]

In 2016, Velodyne's Lidar department was spun off from Velodyne Acoustics as Velodyne Lidar, Inc.[15] On August 16, 2016, Velodyne announced a $150M investment from Ford and Baidu.[16]

In 2017, Velodyne opened a factory in San Jose, California.[17] The company also has an R&D center in Alameda, California.[18] The same year, Velodyne also provided their sensors as a sponsor of the SAE GM AutoDrive Challenge, a three-year competition in which eight university teams develop an automated vehicle.[19]

Since 2018, Velodyne has partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in a campaign to promote the use of autonomous vehicles for improving roadway safety and preventing impaired driving deaths.[20] [21] Since October 2018, Velodyne has organized an annual World Safety Summit on Autonomous Technology.[22] [23] In the same year, the company also signed agreements to collaborate with Nikon and Veoneer for manufacturing and mass production.[24] [25]

In July 2019, the company acquired mapping and localization software as well as intellectual property assets from Mapper.ai.[26]

In January 2020, Hall stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Anand Gopalan, who was previously CTO, although Hall initially remained chairman of the company's board of directors and continued to be the company's largest shareholder.[27] On July 2, 2020, Velodyne Lidar merged with Graf Industrial Corp. to become a publicly-traded company. In September 2020, the company began trading stocks and warrants on NASDAQ under the ticker symbols VLDR and VLDRW.[28]

In January 2021, Hall was censured by the company and removed as chairman of the board, and Hall's wife's employment at the company was terminated, as the relationship between the company and Hall together with Hall's wife Marta Thoma Hall became highly antagonistic, with the Halls and the company accusing each other of serious misconduct.[29] [30] [31] [32] However, Hall has retained a large stake in the company and his wife has remained on its board of directors.[33]

In November 2021, Gopalan was replaced as CEO with Theodore Tewksbury, a former chief executive at a low-power AI vision systems company, Eta Compute.[34]

On February 7, 2022, the company's stock price surged over 50 percent when the internet retailer Amazon agreed to invest in the company with the purchase of 40 million of its shares.[35]

In November 2022, Ouster and Velodyne agreed to merge in an all-share transaction in which the combined business will be split evenly between the two companies' existing shareholders.[36] The merger completed in February 2023, with the combined company retaining the Ouster name.[37]

On February 10, 2023, Ouster and Velodyne successfully completed a merger of equals. The combined company will keep the name Ouster and continue to trade on New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “OUST.”[38]

Technology

Applications for Velodyne Lidar's technology include autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs), mapping, security, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Velodyne's sensors have a range of up to 300 meters and can be used for immediate object detection without additional sensor fusion.[39] [40] When in use on a moving vehicle, a Velodyne sensor can create a precise image of the road ahead, including detailed street signs and foliage.[41]

In April 2017, Velodyne introduced its Velarray, a compact fixed-laser solid-state sensor that produces a directional image rather than the surround view provided by Velodyne's previous sensors.[42] The range, resolution, and directional field of view of the Velarray enable improved object detection and longer braking distances than the company's prior 360° products. The initial Velarray model was announced as having a 120° horizontal and 35° vertical field of view, and a range of 200m (700feet).[42] The initial Velarray was designed for vehicle integration and could be concealed in roof lines and bumpers and behind windshields.[43] [44]

Also in 2017, the company introduced the Alpha Puck (previously known as VLS-128) sensor with a range of up to 300 meters.[45] [46] This sensor is made for autonomous driving and advanced vehicle safety at highway speeds.[47]

In 2019, Velodyne introduced the VelaDome, a compact embeddable lidar that provides a 180° x 180° field of view and supports near-object detection.[48] The company also introduced Vella software for integration of the Velarray into ADAS applications, supporting features such as lane keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control.[49] In November 2019, Velodyne introduced a lidar sensor for improving vehicle safety and enabling precise mapping.[50]

In 2020, Velodyne introduced the Velabit, the company's smallest sensor,[51] the Velarray H800, a solid-state sensor built using a micro-lidar array architecture.[52] and the Velarray M1600, a solid state sensor for mobile robots and last-mile delivery systems.[53]

Partners and customers

In 2010, Google (now Alphabet) began testing self-driving cars on the streets in the San Francisco Bay Area using Velodyne's Lidar technology.[54] Alphabet's first self-driving car prototype (built on Toyota's Prius model) used Velodyne's HDL-64E lidar sensor.[55] Since then, Alphabet has stopped using Velodyne sensors in its vehicles.[56]

In 2012, Velodyne Lidar signed a contract with Caterpillar for a supply of lidar sensors to be used for off-road vehicles. These sensors help Caterpillar map quarries, farms and work sites during construction.[57]

From 2012 to 2015, Velodyne's spinning HDL-32E sensors were used on mobile mapping vehicles by Nokia Here,[58] Microsoft Bing Maps,[59] Tencent,[60] Baidu, and TomTom.[61] Mapping providers including Topcon[62] and Leica Geosystems[63] use Velodyne's scanners for their mobile services.

In 2016, Ford Motor Company announced that it will expand its fleet of self-driving R&D vehicles and use Velodyne Lidar's Ultra Puck sensors.[64] [65] As of December 31, 2020, Ford Motor Company liquidated its 7.6% stake in Velodyne Lidar.[66] [67]

In 2017, Velodyne partnered with Renovo as Reference Lidar provider for the AWare automated mobility operating system[68] and with Mercedes-Benz for a perception system contract.[69]

In 2018, the company partnered with Embark,[70] Geodetics,[71] Voyage,[72] Exyn Technologies,[73] Yellowscan,[74] Phoenix Lidar,[75] NAVYA,[76] ThorDrive[77] and Postmates.[78] Velodyne Lidar also partnered with Nikon, receiving an investment of $25M.[79]

In 2019, Velodyne partnered with Clearpath Robotics,[80] Holomatic,[81] Kaarta[82] and Hyundai Mobis.[83]

In 2020, the company announced agreements with TLD,[84] EasyMile,[85] Emesent,[86] Baidu[87] and Local Motors.[88]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Velodyne's Management . velodynelidar.com . February 4, 2019 . February 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190204231233/https://velodynelidar.com/management.html . dead .
  2. Web site: U.S. SEC: Velodyne Lidar, Inc. 2021 Form 10-K Annual Report . . 1 March 2022.
  3. News: Snavely. Brent. Tech firm Velodyne moves from audio to self-driving cars. March 29, 2017. Detroit Free Press. USA Today. August 28, 2016.
  4. Lee . Timothy B. . Lidar Is Finally Becoming a Real Business . September 11, 2020 . . . en-us.
  5. News: Liz . Cuneo . Kevin . Jost . Sensory inputs . September 14, 2020 . Assembly . en.
  6. News: . Velodyne joins Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program . December 22, 2020 . Geospatial World.
  7. News: . Stunning 3D maps now with Velodyne Lidar . August 20, 2020 . Geospatial World.
  8. Web site: Management. Velodyne Lidar. dead. March 24, 2017. April 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170407124918/http://velodynelidar.com/management.html.
  9. News: Snavely. Brent. Ford to double Silicon Valley presence; invests $75M. March 24, 2017. Detroit Free Press. USA Today. August 16, 2016.
  10. Loughlin . Ryan . How a Bunch of Geeks and Dreamers Jump-Started the Self-Driving Car . November 10, 2017 . Wired.
  11. Web site: Engines of change. Government Computer News. 2007. April 10, 2013. February 23, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140223085658/http://gcn.com/articles/2007/08/03/engines-of-change.aspx. dead.
  12. Web site: Robots, start your engines. . November 4, 2007. April 29, 2016 .
  13. News: Williams. Martyn. Driverless cars yield to reality: It's a long road ahead. May 1, 2017. PC World. July 8, 2013.
  14. News: Wiley. Kate. Smithsonian Adds to Robotics Collection and Invites Public to National Robotics Week Activities in Spark!Lab. May 1, 2017. Smithsonian Institution. April 5, 2011.
  15. Web site: Business Search. California Secretary of State. May 1, 2017.
  16. Web site: Ford, Baidu bet $150M on Velodyne laser radar. USA Today. August 16, 2016.
  17. News: High-tech 'megafactory' in San Jose to create hundreds of jobs . Silicon Valley Business Journal . January 19, 2017 . February 8, 2022.
  18. News: Ohnsman . Alan . How A 34-Year-Old Audio Equipment Company Is Leading The Self-Driving Car Revolution . September 5, 2017 . Forbes.
  19. News: Nguyen . Johnny . David Hall: A Driving Force in the Industry . July 7, 2018 . .
  20. Web site: Madd . Partner Spotlight: Velodyne LiDAR and the Future of Automated Cars . . February 20, 2018 . February 20, 2018.
  21. News: News Desk . MADD partners with Velodyne LiDAR for advanced understanding of autonomous vehicle . July 31, 2019 . Geospatial World.
  22. News: Do . Kiet . World Safety Summit On Self Driving Car Tech Kicks Off At Levi's Stadium . October 2, 2019 . CBS San Francisco.
  23. News: News Desk . Velodyne Lidar announces agenda for World Safety Summit on autonomous technology . October 15, 2020 . Geospatial World.
  24. News: Niedermeyer . Edward . Velodyne-Veoneer Deal Shows Lidar Is Getting Serious . January 16, 2019 . The Drive.
  25. News: Mills . Keith . Nikon Invests In 3D Lidar . January 2, 2019 . Metrology News . January 22, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190122213325/http://metrology.news/nikon-invests-in-3d-lidar . dead .
  26. News: Yvkoff . Liane . With Acquisition Of Mapper.ai, Velodyne Hastens Its Move Beyond Hardware . July 26, 2019 . . en.
  27. News: Ohnsman . Alan . Lidar Pioneer Velodyne Debuts $100 Auto Safety Sensor As Self-Driving Cars' Pace To Market Slows . January 8, 2020 . Forbes.
  28. Web site: GRAF and Velodyne Lidar Announcement. July 2, 2020.
  29. Web site: David Hall . . February 9, 2022.
  30. Web site: Velodyne Lidar Responds to Baseless Assertions from David Hall, Marta Thoma Hall and Eric Singer (press release) . Velodyne Lidar . May 26, 2021.
  31. Web site: Velodyne Lidar Responds to David Hall's Latest False Statements (press release) . Velodyne Lidar . August 24, 2021.
  32. Web site: Velodyne Lidar Responds to Latest Falsehoods from David and Marta Thoma Hall (press release) . Velodyne Lidar . October 27, 2021.
  33. Web site: Board of Directors . Velodyne Lidar . October 27, 2021 . February 9, 2022.
  34. Web site: Theodore Tewksbury to take over as Velodyne CEO . . November 4, 2021 . Alamalhodaei . Aria.
  35. News: Sensor Maker Velodyne Lidar's Shares Surge After Amazon Investment . . February 7, 2022 . February 8, 2022.
  36. News: White . Joseph . Malik . Yuvraj . 7 November 2022 . Lidar duo Ouster and Velodyne to merge in all-stock deal . Reuters.
  37. Web site: Rosevear . John . 13 February 2023 . Lidar makers Ouster and Velodyne complete their merger, creating a sector powerhouse . CNBC.
  38. News: Ouster and Velodyne Complete Merger of Equals to Accelerate Lidar Adoption . . February 13, 2023.
  39. News: Brooke . Lindsay . LiDAR Giant . October 6, 2018 . Autonomous Vehicle Engineering.
  40. Web site: Online Learning for Human Classification in 3D LiDAR-based Tracking. Zhi . Yan . Tom . Duckett . Nicola . Bellotto . April 4, 2019.
  41. News: Cunningham. Wayne. How lasers map the world for self-driving cars. June 26, 2017. . December 19, 2016.
  42. Velodyne LiDAR Announces New 'Velarray' LiDAR Sensor . Velodyne Lidar . . April 19, 2017 . March 10, 2022.
  43. News: Velodyne Lidar to showcase a wide array of products at CES 2019 . dead . January 4, 2019 . Safe Car News . February 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190204232742/https://safecarnews.com/velodyne-lidar-to-showcase-a-wide-array-of-products-at-ces-2019/ .
  44. News: Velodyne Lidar to introduce new sensor technology at CES in Las Vegas . January 7, 2019 . Business Recorder.
  45. News: Popper . Ben . Velodyne's latest LIDAR lets driverless cars handle high-speed situations . November 29, 2017 . The Verge.
  46. News: Trego . Linda . Renovo brings LiDAR sensor from Velodyne to AWare automated mobility ecosystem . September 2018 . Autonomous Vehicle Technology.
  47. News: Velodyne Lidar to showcase a wide array of products at CES 2019 . January 4, 2019 . Safe Car News . February 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190204232742/https://safecarnews.com/velodyne-lidar-to-showcase-a-wide-array-of-products-at-ces-2019/ . dead .
  48. Web site: Velodyne LiDAR to present breakthrough technology for autonomy and driver assistance at consumer electronics show . i-Micronews . January 6, 2019 . .
  49. Web site: CES 2019: Velodyne Lidar technology for autonomy and driver assistance . Novus Light Technologies Today . January 9, 2019.
  50. News: . Velodyne Lidar introduces Alpha Prime lidar sensor . November 16, 2019 . Green Car Congress.
  51. News: Velodyne Lidar introduces its smallest lidar sensor at CES: the Velabit . January 8, 2020 . Green Car Congress.
  52. News: Butcher . Lawrence . Velodyne Lidar introduces solid-state sensor for automotive applications . Autonomous Vehicle International . November 17, 2020.
  53. News: Velodyne Lidar Introduces Solid State Sensor for Autonomous Mobile Robotics and Last-Mile Delivery . December 10, 2020 . NASDAQ.
  54. Web site: How Google's Self-Driving Car Works. Guizzo. Erico. October 18, 2011 . IEEE. April 29, 2016.
  55. News: Google's Waymo invests in LIDAR technology, cuts costs by 90 percent. Ars Technica. January 12, 2017.
  56. News: Amadeo. Ron. Google's Waymo invests in LIDAR technology, cuts costs by 90 percent. June 26, 2017. . January 9, 2017.
  57. News: Morra. James. Velodyne Funding Highlights Lidar's Role in Driverless Cars. March 29, 2017. Electronic Design. August 22, 2016.
  58. Web site: Photo galleries and videos from the Mercury News. May 18, 2024 .
  59. Web site: Velodyne LiDAR to Provide HDL-32E Sensor for Bing Maps Imagery. October 28, 2014. SPAR 3D. en-US. April 29, 2016. November 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151114120618/http://www.sparpointgroup.com/news/vol12no43-velodyne-lidar-to-provide-hdl32e-for-bing-maps. dead.
  60. Web site: Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem. www.techinasia.com. en-US. April 29, 2016.
  61. Web site: TomTom is now making maps for autonomous vehicles. Kastrenakes. Jacob. July 27, 2015 . . April 29, 2016.
  62. Web site: Topcon announces next generation 3-D mobile mapping system Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. . www.topconpositioning.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141010065123/http://www.topconpositioning.com/news-events/news/product-news/topcon-announces-next-generation-3-d-mobile-mapping-system . 2014-10-10.
  63. Web site: Pegasus:Backpack, Leica's Wearable Scanner. June 3, 2015. SPAR 3D. en-US. April 29, 2016. November 6, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151106055320/http://www.sparpointgroup.com/news/vol13no22-pegasus-backpack-leicas-wearable-scanner. dead.
  64. Web site: Ford Tripling Autonomous Vehicle Development Fleet, Accelerating On-Road Testing of Sensors and Software . Ford Media Center . April 29, 2016.
  65. News: A breakthrough in miniaturising lidars for autonomous driving. . December 24, 2016. January 12, 2017.
  66. News: Ford dissolves its 7.6% stake in Velodyne Lidar. . February 15, 2021. February 15, 2021.
  67. Web site: Schedule 13G Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 1) – Velodyne Lidar, Inc. . February 12, 2021 . April 14, 2021 . . Velodyne Lidar, Inc..
  68. News: Renovo selects Velodyne as Reference LiDAR provider for AWare automated mobility operating system . November 14, 2017 . Medium.
  69. News: Velodyne LiDAR awarded Perception System Contract from Mercedes-Benz . September 13, 2017 . The Hindu Business Line.
  70. News: Ohnsman . Alan . Robot Truck Upstart Embark Hauls In $30 Million To Take On Waymo And Uber . July 19, 2018 . Forbes.
  71. News: Newsdesk team, Geospatial Media . San Diego researchers track changes in San Andreas fault with Geodetics mobile mapping and Velodyne LiDAR Technology . June 21, 2018 . Geospatial World.
  72. News: Shieh . Joseph . Voyage Partners With Velodyne for Self-Driving Sensors . 19 June 2018 . Silicon Valley Daily . February 4, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190204231608/http://svdaily.com/voyage-partners-with-velodyne-for-self-driving-sensors/ . dead .
  73. News: Exyn Technologies and Velodyne Lidar Partner to Develop Fully Autonomous Indoor UAS . AUVSI News . April 19, 2018.
  74. News: Cozzens . Tracy . Latest YellowScan lidar system designed for UAV surveys . April 3, 2018 . GPS World.
  75. News: Dirjish . Mathew . Wild Idea Transforms Aerial Mapping Industry . February 1, 2018 . Sensors Magazine.
  76. News: Dennehy . Kevin . LiDAR Presence Growing at CES . January 23, 2018 . Inside Unmanned Systems.
  77. News: Lekach . Sasha . Another self-driving car service arrives to deliver hardware store supplies . November 30, 2018 . Mashable.
  78. News: Constine . Josh . Postmates unveils Serve, a friendlier autonomous delivery robot . Techcrunch.
  79. News: Rees . Mike . Velodyne Lidar Partners with Nikon for Autonomous Vision . 31 December 2018 . Unmanned Systems Technology.
  80. News: . Clearpath Teams With Velodyne to Add Lidar to its Robot Platform . Robotics Business Review . March 27, 2019.
  81. News: China smart valet parking solution uses Velodyne lidar . Green Car Congress . February 1, 2019.
  82. News: Chin . Spencer . Ground mapping solution uses Velodyne Lidar's sensors . FierceElectronics . July 17, 2019 . en.
  83. News: Slovick . Murray . Velodyne and Hyundai Mobis to develop LiDAR-based ADAS system . www.electronicdesign.com . November 14, 2019.
  84. News: Happich . Julien . Velodyne Lidar strikes deal with provider of autonomous baggage tractors . eeNews Europe . April 24, 2020 . en.
  85. News: . EasyMile and Velodyne Lidar Announce Three-Year Agreement . Inside Unmanned Systems . May 1, 2020.
  86. News: . Velodyne Lidar Sensors Power Emesent's Hovermap . sUAS News . 31 July 2020.
  87. News: . Velodyne Lidar Announces 3-Year Sales Agreement With Baidu . aftermarketNews . October 13, 2020.
  88. News: Velodyne Lidar announces multi-year sales agreement with Local Motors . Automotive World . November 19, 2020.

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