Shaping the mobility of tomorrow, driver assistance systems increase both the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles, motor vehicles and special vehicles. Therefore, highly reliable and resilient cameras, LIDAR systems and optical sensors are required for various applications such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), reversing aid, blind spot assist, blind spot detection, traffic sign recognition, warning 360° all-round view or lane departure.
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Image Credit: First Sensor
First Sensor supplies OEMs, integrators and retrofitters at various levels of the value chain from components to modules and complete systems.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) warn the drivers against potential dangers, support them by providing additional information and spare them the effort of dealing with certain tasks. Today, statutory regulations are increasingly specifying advanced driver assistance systems as a compulsory component in trucks, cars, commercial vehicles and special vehicles. Presently, automobile manufacturers across the world are developing self-driving cars – the next generation driver assistance systems that can accelerate, steer and brake fully autonomously.
Vehicle applications are known to place huge demands on the resilience and reliability of the sensors used. The specifications of the systems used should not be changed by vibrations, moisture, dirt, or extreme cold or heat. Additionally, the sensor systems and cameras may be easily and flexibly integrated in vehicle electrical systems and advanced driver assistance systems. Further, different types of sensor technologies are usually integrated, while LIDAR and camera data is consolidated to increase the accuracy, reliability and range of the advanced driver assistance systems.
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Resilient Cameras and Optical Sensors for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems – ADAS. Image Credit: First Sensor
First Sensor Camera Solutions for ADAS
For driver assistance systems in trucks, cars, mining, construction and agricultural machines, First Sensor designs and manufactures powerful digital HDR CMOS cameras. The cameras have large dynamic range and hence are suitable for major differences in brightness and poor lighting conditions. A wide range of digital interfaces are provided by the automobile cameras but these cameras can also be integrated with internal memory capacities and a digital signal processor (DSP).
This makes it possible to process and evaluate the images directly in the camera system through software algorithms, and at the same time the images can also be combined with other sensor signals such as LIDAR or radar data.
The camera has its own “intelligence” and can thus forward both the information and images acquired from the image evaluation, which significantly lowers the amount of data. All cameras developed by First Sensor undergo the quality management system ISO/TS 16949 for the automobile sector and can be quickly and flexibly adapted to custom requirements. First Sensor manufactures all major components itself and thus ensures the long availability of all products for both series production and the aftermarket.
First Sensor OPTO Solutions for ADAS
LIDAR systems are increasingly being integrated into vehicles and mobile machines in order to measure distance and create three-dimensional images of the environment. A pulsed laser beam allows measuring the transit time of the signal from the object back to the detector. For measuring light pulses in the nanosecond range, First Sensor also provides highly sensitive avalanche photodiodes (APD) with internal amplification across wide bandwidths and a wide dynamic range.
High spatial resolutions are needed in optical LIDAR systems. In order to achieve these resolutions, First Sensor develops APD arrays that contain multiple sensor elements.
First Sensor offers standard products with linear 16 or 8 pixels and matrix configuration using 8 x 8 or 5 x 5 pixels. The company also designs and optimizes custom specific arrays to meet the specific applications of customers. First Sensor offers development modules for APD arrays that include a temperature compensated high voltage supply and are suitable for test runs in research and development.
These modules can also be integrated into OEM LIDAR devices based on the time-of-flight principle. The highly accurate amplification of these modules provides exceptional APD signal quality. The modules can also be adapted to customers’ specific application, for instance as development boards with LVDS interface and digital output signal.
First Sensor is already setting the route for the next development step – its very own LIDAR systems, which combine the optics, laser and detector in a single component in a limited space and manage without mechanically moving the parts.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by First Sensor AG.
For more information on this source, please visit First Sensor AG.