On November 2, 2022, Hesai Technology (official website here) officially released the near-range blind spot lidar-FT120, which is a fully solid-state lidar without any moving parts inside. The FT120 is positioned at close range and has an ultra-wide-angle FOV of 100°x75°. At present, the FT120 has received orders for a total of more than 1 million units from several OEMs, and it is expected to be mass-produced and delivered in the second half of 2023.
As a fully solid-state lidar, the laser emission and reception of the FT120 is completely completed by the chipset, and the total number of components is greatly reduced compared with the traditional lidar. Since there are no moving parts inside, the product’s reliability, production efficiency and mass production consistency are also greatly improved.
According to the official info, FT120 has an ultra-wide angle of 100°x75°, and the longest detection distance is 100 meters. It can detect not only high street signs, railings, three-dimensional garage mezzanine, etc., but also low children, pets, cones and zebra crossings. Among them, the point frequency of 192,000 points per second in single echo mode and the global resolution of 160 (H) x 120 (V) allow this lidar to grasp the surrounding environment information in real time.
In the field of mass production vehicles, the vertical viewing angle of semi-solid lidar used for ranging is poor, and there will be a lack of perception for low objects around the vehicle body. In addition, multiple blind spot radars are usually arranged, therefore, the more expensive semi-solid lidar is not cost-effective.
In the early stage of the development of the autonomous driving industry, Hesai Technology used the mechanical rotating Pandar series to seize nearly 60% of the global market share of L4-level driving assistance, among which 12 of the top 15 autonomous driving companies in the California road test Hesai products are used as the main lidar.
It is reported that the AT128 lidar has enabled Hesai Technology to obtain millions of orders from top OEMs such as Lixiang Auto, Changan, Jidu, Hiphi, Lotus, etc. According to Hesai officials, the FT120 released this time has also received more than 1 million orders from a number of OEMs (the list of OEMs has not yet announced) , and the new products will be officially mass-produced and delivered in the second half of 2023.
