Sensor software company Spartan and digital radar firm Uhnder have developed new automotive radar tech for ADAS and self driving cars. The new radar provides high resolution imaging that makes it possible for heavy trucks to drive autonomously at high speeds on motorways safely.

Uhnder’s digital radar technology based on digital code modulation (DCM) combined with Spartan’s sensor software has created a high contrast resolution (HCR) solution to differentiate closely spaced objects.

The combined Uhnder/Spartan solution can detect dangerous objects in the road, such as an abandoned tire or construction debris, more than 200 meters away and trigger the AEB (automatic emergency breaking) in less than the blink of an eye. This assists heavy trucks moving at highway speeds that need, at a minimum, the length of a football field to come to a full stop.

According to Eric Fuller, President and CEO of U.S. Xpress, one of the nation’s largest asset-based truckload carriers, “We’re always looking for the best safety technology and ways to provide more value to our customers. In the coming years as the ADAS market continues to improve and autonomous trucks begin to scale, we’ll need technologies that combine lidar-like resolution with sensor ruggedisation. We’re looking for solutions that will handle the harsh real-world conditions of an autonomous truck driving hundreds of thousands of miles per year. We expect the Uhnder-Spartan partnership to deliver this performance; it can be a real game-changer.”

Uhnder CEO and Co-founder Manju Hegde said, “The transition from legacy analogue radar to breakthrough digital radar is a critical step to improving ADAS systems and achieving increased safety on our roads. Our partnership with Spartan bolsters the tremendous capabilities of our leading radar sensor solution with enhancements from Spartan’s powerful sensor software that will go a long way to increasing safety for automated vehicles.”

Spartan’s proprietary biomimetic software algorithms leverage machine learning and edge-processing to provide high-resolution sensing that mimics the human ability of instantly shifting focus to safely respond to obstacles.

Spartan CEO and Co-founder Nathan Mintz said, “Spartan and Uhnder are accelerating the delivery of a pioneering sensing solution that can ultimately save lives. Uhnder’s advanced radar technology combined with Spartan’s software allows customers to create solutions that focus on what matters for safety, like discerning a car from a lane-splitting motorcycle or a bicyclist from a nearby guard rail.”