Sign a multi-year production contract! These two companies are targeting industrial grade 3D LiDAR sensors

Recently, Sumotive, a solid state lidar system developer based in Seattle, announced a multi-year production contract with Hokuyo Automation, a global sensor and automation technology developer. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The above two parties pointed out that this cooperation will accelerate the deployment of key sensor technologies in robot and autonomous system applications. It is reported that Hokuyo is preparing to produce a 3D LiDAR sensor based on the Lumotive M30 reference design using Lumotive's solid-state LCM optical semiconductor beam guiding chip, with the goal of being used for industrial applications.

The planned new product "has the potential to surpass traditional mechanical LiDAR and time-of-flight camera technologies and promote progress in Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), and other industrial applications." Hokuyo is leveraging Lumotive's manufacturing partners and engineering expertise to bring its sensing products to the market faster.

Hokuyo produces industrial automation sensors, including LiDAR sensors for robotics, material processing, and other industrial automation applications. The company stated that it has chosen Lumiotive's LCM technology because of its digital beam guidance capability, which enables it to produce 3D sensing solutions that are more accurate, reliable, and cost-effective than existing products.

Lumiotive's technology is based on mature semiconductor manufacturing technology, providing the world's first solid-state metasurface beam steering chip ready for mass production. The company claims that its LCM chip achieves miniaturization, low cost, and higher reliability compared to existing scanning LiDAR solutions. This chip is expected to provide significant application advantages for a wide range of applications in key industries, including consumer electronics, industrial automation and autonomous vehicle.

The large field of view and ultra wide extended range of the Lumiotive solid-state 3D LiDAR sensor exist in a compact form and can be seamlessly integrated into various machinery, from robots to conveying systems. The scanning mode defined by the software allows for customization of specific tasks, such as precise object tracking on the production line or efficient navigation of AMR. This system can minimize interference and multipath effects to achieve better point cloud quality, which is crucial for precise sensing in complex industrial environments.

Hokuyo President Hitoshi Ozaki commented, "We believe Lumiotive's LCM optical semiconductor technology will change the game rules of the industrial automation market. It provides a new level of miniaturization, performance, and reliability, which will enable us to expand our business with 3D sensing solutions that traditional LiDAR scanning technology cannot achieve. We look forward to working with Lumiotive to bring these solutions to the market
Dr. Sam Heidari, CEO of Lumiotive, stated: We are eager to integrate our LCM technology into our first industrial automation application with Hokuyo Automation. Hokuyo Automation's expertise in industrial automation and sensor technology makes them ideal partners for accelerating the adoption of our breakthrough LCM semiconductor technology. This production supply agreement marks an important milestone for Lumiotive as we bring to the robotics and automation systems market We have advanced 3D sensing solutions