Shanghai based Hesai has released a fully solid-state near range blind spot lidar designed to support ADAS applications. The FT120 has no moving parts and has gained over one million pre-production orders from OEMs. Products are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2023.

With no moving parts inside, the FT120 improves on product reliability, production efficiency, and consistency over conventional lidar, according to Hesai.

FT120 features 100° x 75° ultra-wide FOV and zero blind spots. The maximum detection range is 100 metres. It can perceive surrounding objects such as street signs, railings, small animals, traffic cones, and pedestrian crossings in real-time, providing essential blind spot perception for the vehicle. With a data rate of 192,000 points per second (in a single return) and an overall resolution of 160 (H) x 120 (V), FT120 can detect rich object details and gather information of the environment in real-time.

Hesai argues that fully solid state lidar can have both a functional and price advantage over hybrid solid state lidar, especially in terms of real-time sensing. The company says that in mass-produced vehicles, hybrid solid state lidar can have the advantage in terms of ranging capability, but that, for blind spots on both sides, there may be a lack of perception of near-range objects. Hesai also claims that since multiple lidar units may be necessary for blind spot detection, hybrid solid state lidar may be less cost-effective. Fully solid state lidar by contrast, can provide better vertical field of view, and are better solutions for manoeuvres such as turning at urban intersections, cutting in line, overtaking, and autonomous parking, where real-time sensing is an advantage.

Mass production of the new unit is expected to begin in 2023 as Hesai’s “Maxwell” intelligent manufacturing centre, with an annual production capacity of one million units, enters operation.