California-based Quanergy Systems’ 3D lidar has been selected for a V2X smart city deployment in South Korea.

Quanergy provides OPA-based solid-state lidar sensors and smart 3D offerings for automotive and the IoT. Its 3D lidar will support the development of an ICT system in Busan, South Korea.

The ICT system is a key component of the South Korean government’s strategy to build data driven IoT smart cities. Busan is one of the pilot cities for the initiative.

Deployed with long-time system integrator partner iCent, Quanergy’s 3D offering, consisting of its MQ-8 lidar sensor paired with its Qortex DTC proprietary perception software, collects and analyses traffic data, including the walking direction of pedestrians, their traffic volume, and the number of speeding vehicles, so the iSaver data analytics platform from iCent can determine their patterns based on time of day, day of the week and so on.

The collected data help Busan’s smart city traffic centre better understand traffic patterns, predict safety hazards and ultimately develop transportation policies to improve pedestrian safety.

This information is crucial for ICT infrastructure to inform smarter, data-driven decisions. Furthermore, it integrates with traffic lights to respond dynamically to traffic, and gives drivers and pedestrians visibility into real-time traffic information through an app on their smartphones. This is said to be the first system of its kind in Korea to provide traffic data for V2X (vehicle to everything) equipment and beacon equipment.

“Quanergy’s lidar provided greater than 95% accuracy and reliable performance in all ambient conditions, day or night,” said Moon WonSang, CEO at iCent. “With more accurate data, Busan was able to improve the effectiveness of its transportation policies. In addition, the lidar provided a low total cost of ownership, for a cost savings of more than 30%. The use of lidar also automated the data collection, eliminating the need for manual, error-prone data collection methods.”

In 2020, Quanergy installed its smart lidar in Seoul, South Korea, to improve crosswalk safety in school zones.

Quanergy has developed its solid-state CMOS lidar sensor built on optical phased array (OPA) technology to enable the mass production of low-cost, highly reliable 3D lidars. This lets businesses leverage real-time 3D insights to transform their operations in various industries including industrial automation, physical security, smart cities and smart spaces.

Founded in February 2000, iCent provides technology information and communications, mostly for total network, security and safety platform use. The one-stop service company has developed network analysis and management products and now provides network consulting, design, construction and operation support.