Wikipedia

Velodyne Lidar

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][8] In February 2023, the company merged with Ouster.

Velodyne Lidar
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: VLDR
IndustryLidar
Founded2016; 8 years ago (2016) as Velodyne Acoustics spin-off
FounderDavid Hall[1]
DefunctFebruary 2023
FateMerged with Ouster
HeadquartersSan Jose, California, United States
Key people
Ted Tewksbury (CEO)[1]
ProductsLidar
RevenueDecrease $61.92 million (2021)[2]
Number of employees
407[2] (Dec 2021)
Websitevelodynelidar.com

History

edit

David Hall founded Velodyne in 1983 as an audio company specializing in subwoofer technology.[9][10]

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).[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] The new system produced one million data points per second, while earlier systems produced 5,000 data points per second.[12]

 
A Velodyne HDL-64E, an HDL-32E, a Puck, and an Ultra Puck

Velodyne donated one of its early prototype sensors to the Robotics Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in 2011.[14][15]

In 2016, Velodyne's Lidar department was spun off from Velodyne Acoustics as Velodyne Lidar, Inc.[16] On August 16, 2016, Velodyne announced a $150 million investment from Ford and Baidu.[17]

In 2017, Velodyne opened a factory in San Jose, California.[18] The company also has an R&D center in Alameda, California.[19] 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.[20]

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.[21][22] Since October 2018, Velodyne has organized an annual World Safety Summit on Autonomous Technology.[23][24] In the same year, the company also signed agreements to collaborate with Nikon and Veoneer for manufacturing and mass production.[25][26]

In July 2019, the company acquired mapping and localization software as well as intellectual property assets from Mapper.ai.[27]

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.[28] 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.[29]

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.[30][31][32][33] However, Hall has retained a large stake in the company and his wife has remained on its board of directors.[34]

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.[35]

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.[36]

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.[37] The merger completed in February 2023, with the combined company retaining the Ouster name.[38]

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.”[39]

Technology

edit
 
An Alpha Puck, Velarray, and VelaDome

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.[5][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 200 metres (660 ft).[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

edit
 
Velodyne Lidar Alpha Puck on a Voyage vehicle

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.[55][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][better source needed] 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]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Velodyne's Management". velodynelidar.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. SEC: Velodyne Lidar, Inc. 2021 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 1, 2022.
  3. ^ Snavely, Brent (August 28, 2016). "Tech firm Velodyne moves from audio to self-driving cars". Detroit Free Press. USA Today. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  4. ^ Lee, Timothy B. "Lidar Is Finally Becoming a Real Business". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 11, 2020 – via Wired.
  5. ^ a b Brooke, Lindsay. "LiDAR Giant". Autonomous Vehicle Engineering. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Cuneo, Liz; Jost, Kevin. "Sensory inputs". Assembly. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  7. ^ "Velodyne joins Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program". Geospatial World. December 22, 2020.
  8. ^ "Stunning 3D maps now with Velodyne Lidar". Geospatial World. August 20, 2020.
  9. ^ "Management". Velodyne Lidar. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  10. ^ Snavely, Brent (August 16, 2016). "Ford to double Silicon Valley presence; invests $75M". Detroit Free Press. USA Today. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  11. ^ Loughlin, Ryan. "How a Bunch of Geeks and Dreamers Jump-Started the Self-Driving Car". Wired. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Engines of change". Government Computer News. 2007. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  13. ^ "Robots, start your engines". San Francisco Chronicle. November 4, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  14. ^ Williams, Martyn (July 8, 2013). "Driverless cars yield to reality: It's a long road ahead". PC World. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  15. ^ Wiley, Kate (April 5, 2011). "Smithsonian Adds to Robotics Collection and Invites Public to National Robotics Week Activities in Spark!Lab". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  16. ^ "Business Search". California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  17. ^ "Ford, Baidu bet $150M on Velodyne laser radar". USA Today. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  18. ^ "High-tech 'megafactory' in San Jose to create hundreds of jobs". Silicon Valley Business Journal. January 19, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  19. ^ Ohnsman, Alan. "How A 34-Year-Old Audio Equipment Company Is Leading The Self-Driving Car Revolution". Forbes. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  20. ^ Nguyen, Johnny. "David Hall: A Driving Force in the Industry". Medium. Retrieved July 7, 2018.[better source needed]
  21. ^ Madd (February 20, 2018). "Partner Spotlight: Velodyne LiDAR and the Future of Automated Cars". Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  22. ^ News Desk. "MADD partners with Velodyne LiDAR for advanced understanding of autonomous vehicle". Geospatial World. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  23. ^ Do, Kiet. "World Safety Summit On Self Driving Car Tech Kicks Off At Levi's Stadium". CBS San Francisco. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  24. ^ News Desk. "Velodyne Lidar announces agenda for World Safety Summit on autonomous technology". Geospatial World. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  25. ^ Niedermeyer, Edward. "Velodyne-Veoneer Deal Shows Lidar Is Getting Serious". The Drive. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  26. ^ Mills, Keith. "Nikon Invests In 3D Lidar". Metrology News. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  27. ^ Yvkoff, Liane. "With Acquisition Of Mapper.ai, Velodyne Hastens Its Move Beyond Hardware". Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  28. ^ Ohnsman, Alan. "Lidar Pioneer Velodyne Debuts $100 Auto Safety Sensor As Self-Driving Cars' Pace To Market Slows". Forbes. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  29. ^ "GRAF and Velodyne Lidar Announcement". July 2, 2020.
  30. ^ "David Hall". Forbes. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  31. ^ "Velodyne Lidar Responds to Baseless Assertions from David Hall, Marta Thoma Hall and Eric Singer (press release)". Velodyne Lidar. May 26, 2021.
  32. ^ "Velodyne Lidar Responds to David Hall's Latest False Statements (press release)". Velodyne Lidar. August 24, 2021.
  33. ^ "Velodyne Lidar Responds to Latest Falsehoods from David and Marta Thoma Hall (press release)". Velodyne Lidar. October 27, 2021.
  34. ^ "Board of Directors". Velodyne Lidar. October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  35. ^ Alamalhodaei, Aria (November 4, 2021). "Theodore Tewksbury to take over as Velodyne CEO". TechCrunch.
  36. ^ "Sensor Maker Velodyne Lidar's Shares Surge After Amazon Investment". The Wall Street Journal. February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  37. ^ White, Joseph; Malik, Yuvraj (November 7, 2022). "Lidar duo Ouster and Velodyne to merge in all-stock deal". Reuters.
  38. ^ Rosevear, John (February 13, 2023). "Lidar makers Ouster and Velodyne complete their merger, creating a sector powerhouse". CNBC.
  39. ^ "Ouster and Velodyne Complete Merger of Equals to Accelerate Lidar Adoption". Businesswire. February 13, 2023.
  40. ^ Yan, Zhi; Duckett, Tom; Bellotto, Nicola. "Online Learning for Human Classification in 3D LiDAR-based Tracking" (PDF). Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  41. ^ Cunningham, Wayne (December 19, 2016). "How lasers map the world for self-driving cars". CNET. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  42. ^ a b Velodyne Lidar (April 19, 2017). "Velodyne LiDAR Announces New 'Velarray' LiDAR Sensor" (Press release). Retrieved March 10, 2022 – via Businesswire.
  43. ^ "Velodyne Lidar to showcase a wide array of products at CES 2019". Safe Car News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  44. ^ "Velodyne Lidar to introduce new sensor technology at CES in Las Vegas". Business Recorder. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  45. ^ Popper, Ben. "Velodyne's latest LIDAR lets driverless cars handle high-speed situations". The Verge. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  46. ^ Trego, Linda. "Renovo brings LiDAR sensor from Velodyne to AWare automated mobility ecosystem". Autonomous Vehicle Technology. No. September 2018.
  47. ^ "Velodyne Lidar to showcase a wide array of products at CES 2019". Safe Car News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  48. ^ "Velodyne LiDAR to present breakthrough technology for autonomy and driver assistance at consumer electronics show". i-Micronews. January 6, 2019.
  49. ^ "CES 2019: Velodyne Lidar technology for autonomy and driver assistance". Novus Light Technologies Today. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  50. ^ "Velodyne Lidar introduces Alpha Prime lidar sensor". Green Car Congress. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  51. ^ "Velodyne Lidar introduces its smallest lidar sensor at CES: the Velabit". Green Car Congress. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  52. ^ Butcher, Lawrence (November 17, 2020). "Velodyne Lidar introduces solid-state sensor for automotive applications". Autonomous Vehicle International.
  53. ^ "Velodyne Lidar Introduces Solid State Sensor for Autonomous Mobile Robotics and Last-Mile Delivery". NASDAQ. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  54. ^ Guizzo, Erico (October 18, 2011). "How Google's Self-Driving Car Works". IEEE. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  55. ^ a b "Google's Waymo invests in LIDAR technology, cuts costs by 90 percent". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  56. ^ Amadeo, Ron (January 9, 2017). "Google's Waymo invests in LIDAR technology, cuts costs by 90 percent". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  57. ^ Morra, James (August 22, 2016). "Velodyne Funding Highlights Lidar's Role in Driverless Cars". Electronic Design. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  58. ^ "Photo galleries and videos from the Mercury News". May 18, 2024.
  59. ^ "Velodyne LiDAR to Provide HDL-32E Sensor for Bing Maps Imagery". SPAR 3D. October 28, 2014. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  60. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  61. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (July 27, 2015). "TomTom is now making maps for autonomous vehicles". The Verge. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  62. ^ "Topcon announces next generation 3-D mobile mapping system | Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc". www.topconpositioning.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014.
  63. ^ "Pegasus:Backpack, Leica's Wearable Scanner". SPAR 3D. June 3, 2015. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  64. ^ "Ford Tripling Autonomous Vehicle Development Fleet, Accelerating On-Road Testing of Sensors and Software". Ford Media Center. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  65. ^ "A breakthrough in miniaturising lidars for autonomous driving". The Economist. December 24, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  66. ^ "Ford dissolves its 7.6% stake in Velodyne Lidar". Reuters. February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  67. ^ Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (February 12, 2021). "Schedule 13G Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 1) – Velodyne Lidar, Inc". Retrieved April 14, 2021 – via United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
  68. ^ "Renovo selects Velodyne as Reference LiDAR provider for AWare automated mobility operating system". Medium. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  69. ^ "Velodyne LiDAR awarded Perception System Contract from Mercedes-Benz". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  70. ^ Ohnsman, Alan. "Robot Truck Upstart Embark Hauls In $30 Million To Take On Waymo And Uber". Forbes. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  71. ^ Newsdesk team, Geospatial Media. "San Diego researchers track changes in San Andreas fault with Geodetics mobile mapping and Velodyne LiDAR Technology". Geospatial World. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  72. ^ Shieh, Joseph. "Voyage Partners With Velodyne for Self-Driving Sensors". Silicon Valley Daily. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  73. ^ "Exyn Technologies and Velodyne Lidar Partner to Develop Fully Autonomous Indoor UAS". AUVSI News. April 19, 2018.
  74. ^ Cozzens, Tracy. "Latest YellowScan lidar system designed for UAV surveys". GPS World. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  75. ^ Dirjish, Mathew. "Wild Idea Transforms Aerial Mapping Industry". Sensors Magazine. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  76. ^ Dennehy, Kevin. "LiDAR Presence Growing at CES". Inside Unmanned Systems. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  77. ^ Lekach, Sasha. "Another self-driving car service arrives to deliver hardware store supplies". Mashable. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  78. ^ Constine, Josh. "Postmates unveils Serve, a friendlier autonomous delivery robot". Techcrunch.
  79. ^ Rees, Mike. "Velodyne Lidar Partners with Nikon for Autonomous Vision". Unmanned Systems Technology. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  80. ^ "Clearpath Teams With Velodyne to Add Lidar to its Robot Platform". Robotics Business Review. March 27, 2019.
  81. ^ "China smart valet parking solution uses Velodyne lidar". Green Car Congress. February 1, 2019.
  82. ^ Chin, Spencer (July 17, 2019). "Ground mapping solution uses Velodyne Lidar's sensors". FierceElectronics.
  83. ^ Slovick, Murray (November 14, 2019). "Velodyne and Hyundai Mobis to develop LiDAR-based ADAS system". www.electronicdesign.com.
  84. ^ Happich, Julien (April 24, 2020). "Velodyne Lidar strikes deal with provider of autonomous baggage tractors". eeNews Europe.
  85. ^ "EasyMile and Velodyne Lidar Announce Three-Year Agreement". Inside Unmanned Systems. May 1, 2020.
  86. ^ "Velodyne Lidar Sensors Power Emesent's Hovermap". sUAS News. July 31, 2020.
  87. ^ "Velodyne Lidar Announces 3-Year Sales Agreement With Baidu". aftermarketNews. October 13, 2020.
  88. ^ "Velodyne Lidar announces multi-year sales agreement with Local Motors". Automotive World. November 19, 2020.
edit
  • Official website
    • Historical business data for Velodyne Lidar, Inc.:
    • SEC filings
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Velodyne_Lidar&oldid=1249426320"