Velodyne Encourages Government and Industry
Collaboration to Advance Vehicle Safety
Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) today commended the
U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) plan to update to its New Car Assessment
Program (NCAP). The NHTSA proposal would add four advanced driver
assistance system (ADAS) capabilities to the NCAP, keeping pace
with evolving safety technologies and providing much-needed
information to consumers.
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Images show vehicle with lidar-based PAEB
stopping before adult target @ 50% overlap (above) and vehicle with
camera and radar-based PAEB crashing into adult target (below).
(Photo: Velodyne Lidar, Inc.)
NCAP is the U.S. Government’s premier consumer information
program for evaluating vehicle safety performance. The NHTSA
proposal to add ADAS technologies to the NCAP includes pedestrian
automatic emergency braking, lane keeping support, blind spot
warning and blind spot intervention. The proposal asks for comments
on how best to develop a NHTSA rating system for ADAS technologies.
It also requests comments on potential approaches for conveying
this information on the Monroney label, which is displayed on all
new automobiles and provides important vehicle information to
consumers.
“NHTSA’s proposal has the potential to save lives. Adding ADAS
to NCAP is an excellent step forward in advancing safety features
in cars and educating consumers on what those features can and
cannot do,” said Mircea Gradu, PhD, Senior Vice President of
Product and Quality, Velodyne Lidar. “Velodyne has long been
engaged with NHTSA and other auto safety leaders on how to
standardize ADAS features and establish a rating system that
measures ADAS levels of performance. We are eager to work with the
agency and all stakeholders on completing this important
initiative.”
Velodyne has for years been dedicated to testing lidar sensors
and developing safety metrics for ADAS systems. NHTSA’s new plans
allow Velodyne to share the company’s findings, weighing in on the
capabilities of lidar-centric ADAS systems which have superior
performance after sundown, an advantage over current
radar+camera-based ADAS solutions. Lidar is self-illuminating; its
array of laser beams can accurately perceive the environment in
darkness as well as in daylight. Lidar has long been a key sensor
for autonomous driving and now Velodyne is applying lidar
technology for ADAS vehicle safety, planning to offer software and
lidar system solutions in increasing increments of safety and
protection.
Five-Diamond ADAS Rating System
Velodyne has a long-standing commitment to fostering
understanding of the safety and mobility benefits of advanced
driving capabilities to consumer, business, government, public
safety and community audiences. These efforts include developing a
framework for a five-diamond rating system, aimed at establishing
standardized performance assessments of ADAS features. The system
is designed to encourage transparency in the marketplace and
promote the maximum positive effect of ADAS technologies.
The five-level rating system utilizes diamonds to mark
significant milestone achievements in vehicle system performance.
The foundational ADAS technologies included in the five-diamond
rating system are adaptive cruise control, lane keep assistance,
automatic emergency braking, automatic emergency steering and blind
spot monitoring.
Velodyne has presented the proposed system to encourage
refinement and quantification of the performance descriptors to
organizations that include NHTSA, SAE International, Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) and International Alliance for Mobility Testing and
Standardization (IAMTS). Velodyne developed a white paper on the
rating system, called “An ADAS Feature Rating System: Proposing a
New Industry Standard.”
Velodyne envisions the ADAS assessment system results can be
incorporated into the Monroney label. Velodyne has developed a
proposed ADAS rating label for government and industry review. It
is similar to the current NHTSA-developed crash-worthiness label
and can be used to educate consumers on vehicle ADAS capabilities
before they make car purchases.
Improving ADAS to Reduce Nighttime Dangers to
Pedestrians
Velodyne has also called for increased testing of ADAS
performance in dark nighttime scenarios. This expansion would
address a gap in current testing protocols, which primarily look at
daytime conditions and largely overlook the risks to pedestrians
from ADAS features that perform poorly in dark nighttime
conditions.
Over 6,000 pedestrians are killed every year in traffic-related
crashes in the United States with the vast majority of fatalities
occurring in dark conditions, per NHTSA reports. Current ADAS, with
pedestrian automatic emergency braking (PAEB) that utilizes camera
and radar technology, frequently fail to protect pedestrians in
dark conditions according to independent testing by NHTSA and the
American Automobile Association (AAA).
To reflect real-life conditions, Velodyne proposes expanding
PAEB testing protocols to include tests conducted in dark nighttime
conditions. This change would protect the public and provide
consumers useful information on the capabilities and limitations of
different pedestrian detection systems.
This proposal is addressed in a Velodyne white paper, “Improving
Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB) in Dark, Nighttime
Conditions.” The white paper also includes the results of nighttime
PAEB tests conducted by Velodyne. The tests evaluated a
highly-rated PAEB system using camera and radar-based technology
and Velodyne’s PAEB system that uses Velodyne’s Velarray H800
sensor and Vella™ software. In these nighttime conditions, the
camera and radar-based PAEB system failed in all five scenarios
while the lidar-based system avoided a crash in every situation
tested.
About Velodyne Lidar
Velodyne Lidar (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) ushered in a new era of
autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view
lidar sensors. Velodyne is the first public pure-play lidar company
and is known worldwide for its broad portfolio of breakthrough
lidar technologies. Velodyne’s revolutionary sensor and software
solutions provide flexibility, quality and performance to meet the
needs of a wide range of industries, including autonomous vehicles,
advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), robotics, unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV), smart cities and security. Through
continuous innovation, Velodyne strives to transform lives and
communities by advancing safer mobility for all. For more
information, visit www.velodynelidar.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward looking statements" within
the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without
limitation, all statements other than historical fact and include,
without limitation, statements regarding Velodyne’s target markets,
new products, development efforts, competition. When used in this
press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects,"
"anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes,"
"seeks," "may," "will," “can,” "should," "future," "propose" and
variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative
versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and
involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties,
assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside
Velodyne's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual
results or outcomes include Velodyne's ability to manage growth;
Velodyne's ability to execute its business plan; uncertainties
related to the ability of Velodyne's customers to commercialize
their products and the ultimate market acceptance of these
products; the uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
Velodyne's and its customers' businesses; uncertainties related to
Velodyne's estimates of the size of the markets for its products;
the rate and degree of market acceptance of Velodyne's products;
the success of other competing lidar and sensor-related products
and services that exist or may become available; Velodyne's ability
to identify and integrate acquisitions; uncertainties related to
Velodyne's current litigation and potential litigation involving
Velodyne or the validity or enforceability of Velodyne's
intellectual property; and general economic and market conditions
impacting demand for Velodyne's products and services. Velodyne
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as required by law.
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Investor Relations Andrew Hamer Chief Financial Officer
InvestorRelations@velodyne.com
Media Landis Communications Inc. Sean Dowdall (415)
286-7121 velodyne@landispr.com
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