Baraja’s Spectrum-Scan™ technology enables 10 advantages solving challenges facing legacy LiDAR technology.
Working with the highest resolution pointcloud data is the foundation of more accurate perception. Historically, LiDAR resolution has been limited by how precisely a rotating mirror or laser can be moved. But Spectrum-Scan™ technology is a unique solution that uses refraction to completely scan in one axis with no-moving-parts. Through our approach, we’ve achieved a substantial increase in resolution which is only possible by moving away from mechanical scanning.
The Spectrum-Scan™ platform can dynamically increase pointcloud resolution around key objects, providing enhanced detail to make classification decisions. Points can be foveated to provide the maximum density on areas of interest, such as horizon tracking a target as it moves further away from the sensor. Fully customizable, your perception stack can trigger instant changes to resolution and scan pattern without affecting reliability.
By measuring the Doppler shift of returning light for each point in the pointcloud we can detect whether an object is in motion and calculate its speed. This data can be used to detect movement at a distance, such as a pedestrian stepping out of a stationary crowd into the road.
Long-range perception is paramount to safe driving, but sensitivity alone is a misleading metric if the data doesn’t lead to accurate detection – what we call ‘effective range’. Our Spectrum-Scan™ system combines improvements in sensitivity, resolution, beam divergence, accuracy and precision to ensure you can classify even small objects at maximum range.
Traditional LiDAR systems are vulnerable to interference from external light sources, in particular other LiDAR sensors, a major obstacle to safely putting autonomous vehicles on the road. The Spectrum-Scan™ platform is the first LiDAR with a unique built-in immunity to all interference. A signal would have to match the exact timing, angle, wavelength and encoding to interfere with our system. This multi-layered protection means no more blind spots in perception and enhanced safety that’s ready for tomorrow’s sensor-filled world.
Blurring is inherent to mechanical scanning LiDAR systems due to the rapid movement of mirrors or lasers as they scan in the fast axis – much like how shaking a camera leads to a blurry photograph. At 200m away pointcloud blur can cause objects to become undetectable. Spectrum-Scan™ technology solves blurring by scanning with wavelength-tunable lasers that instantaneously hop from point to point, without inertia. This results in a blur-free pointcloud and more reliable information.
Through a proprietary receiver photonics chip, we’ve eliminated speckle – ensuring we have a best-in-class effective range that’s ready for highway driving.
To create the Spectrum-Scan™ sensor we started from scratch, building our system around refractive optics – refracting light through a prism to scan in one axis at more than a million times per second with no-moving-parts. This allowed us to remove the most expensive, bulky and failure prone components of any LiDAR system – mechanical scanning in the fast axis. By taking a fundamentally different approach to analyzing the environment we’ve created a platform with unmatched reliability and longevity.
Our core innovation of solid-state scanning in the fast axis, using only a laser and a prism, means we’re a generation ahead in terms of performance and reliability. By removing the mechanical components most prone to failure, our sensors easily exceed the stringent automotive requirements for shock resistance and longevity.
By taking a radically different approach to scanning we’ve achieved breakthroughs in performance and precision. We have a clear roadmap to fit our sensor onto a single chip, unlock the benefits of semiconductor manufacturing, miniaturize our product and lower the overall cost to meet automotive requirements.
At the core of all our products is our patented Spectrum-Scan™ technology which uniquely uses wavelength-tunable lasers to scan the environment. The design innovation means we’ve removed the most expensive, bulky and failure-prone components in a LiDAR system – mechanical scanning in the fast axis.