Next-generation technologies to enable high-performance, low-cost lidar

Hod Finkelstein
(Sense Photonics)
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Date: July 2, 2020
Description:
Lidar systems are used in diverse applications, including autonomous driving and industrial automation. Despite the challenging requirements for these systems, most lidars in the market utilize legacy technologies such as scanning mechanisms, long-coherence-length or edge-emitting lasers, and avalanche photodiodes, and consequently offer limited performance and robustness at a relatively high price point. Other systems propose to utilize esoteric technologies which face an uphill struggle towards manufacturability. This talk will describe two complementary technologies, leveraging on years of progress in adjacent industries. When combined with novel signal processing algorithms, these deliver a high-resolution, long-range and low-cost solid-state flash lidar system, breaking the performance envelope and resulting in a camera-like system. We will discuss design trade-offs, performance roadmap into the future and remaining challenges.
Further Information:
Hod Finkelstein is CTO at Sense Photonics. He started his career at Intel, designing the early Pentium chips and was in charge of semiconductor technologies at Mellanox Technologies. During his PhD, he invented the first generic-CMOS Single-Photon-Avalanche-Diodes (SPADs) and first demonstrated arrays of these devices. Hod was Director of Technology Development at Illumina, the $45B DNA sequencing company, where he managed the development of on-chip CMOS DNA sequencers. He was later CTO at TruTag Technologies, where he conceptualized and developed an award-winning handheld and battery-operated hyperspectral camera. Hod defines the technology direction and leads Sense Photonics’ next-generation lidar development team.
Created: Friday, July 3rd, 2020