AUTONOMY SENSORS
Quanergy predicts market transformation with solid state LiDAR
The LiDAR market is set to see a potential divergence in mining with the onset of OPA-based solid state technology versus existing MEMS and Flash technologies . Tony Rigoni , Quanergy Director of Industrial Markets told IM : “ I think we are going to see more LiDAR adoption in mining . Of course , the challenge to date in its use in mobile mining equipment has been the conditions – vibration , shock and dust . And this remains the LiDAR Achilles heel in mining – it has a rotational mechanical turret , there are bearings , so there are eventually going to be failures and typically these LiDARs are having to be replaced as often as every few months . The holy grail in mining LiDAR is using solid state technology with no mechanical parts – ultrareliable plus eliminating wear , misalignment and recalibration needs – and that ’ s what all the mining equipment OEMs and the mines themselves want . When it reaches production at scale is will also significantly bring down LiDAR cost as it is based on a silicon chip .”
Quanergy says it is the only provider that is in advanced development of a 100 % CMOS silicon , solid state LiDAR based on optical phased array ( OPA ) technology . It is already the result of eight years and over $ 100 million of investment in silicon photonics technology with all key silicon components developed in-house leveraging Quanergy ’ s photonics and ASIC design team . Rigoni described LiDAR is the optical analogue of phased array radar – a technology that has achieved low cost , large scale commercial deployment in the automotive radar market .
“ We are the only LiDAR company that has commercialised OPA technology for people counting applications . The outdoor range performance is also very rapidly improving for the mobility market . Last year our LiDARs were reaching 15 m in full sunlight , in July we announced 100 m and by end-2021 we predict 200 m at 10 % reflectivity , meaning we can see a very ‘ dark ’ object at 200 m . Thanks to this performance , our solid state technology will be able to provide the range and reliability for autonomous mobile mining equipment – and that will be a game changer .”
Rigoni said it is not new to mining and that it already has safety related mechanical LiDAR running underground at several mining operations in South America but that these are still covered by NDAs . And it is now in discussions with these and other customers plus the big mining equipment OEMs about application of its OPA solid state tech .
He agrees that sensor fusion is coming but that it needs to get more focused . “ The challenge today is that there is still too much data from all the sensors whether GPS , radar , LiDAR , cameras – all being delivered at once . Our new products are edge computing based . We only want the point cloud data if the truck ‘ sees ’ something that needs to be interpreted – AI and pattern recognition – so that the data that is delivered only when its needed . Quanergy is also differentiated as one of very few LiDAR manufacturers to commercially produce an integrated software and hardware platform solution , enabling an entirely new level of smart awareness . LiDAR sensors use lasers that send pulses that reflect off objects to measure directly the distance and shape , creating a detailed 3D map of the physical world . However , in order to perceive what these objects are and where they are located additional technology is needed to interpret the 3D data from the sensor .” Quanergy says its QORTEX software has been developed to accomplish this feat with high accuracy and ensures “ a flexible ,
modular and scalable approach to deploying LiDAR-enabled applications .”
MINING SOLUTIONS IN PERSON
MINExpo INTERNATIONAL ® Covers It All
Get up close to equipment and solutions that will take your operation to the next level at MINExpo INTERNATIONAL ® 2021 . Whether you produce copper , silver , gold , iron ore , coal , zinc , lithium , nickel , industrial minerals , rare earths , sand or others , you ��������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������ experts in person , demo the products you need today and explore technologies you will want tomorrow . We are committed to holding a safe event and will continue to follow the guidance of the CDC , state and local authorities as well as the Las Vegas Convention ��������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������������������������
Register today at www . MINExpo . com .
SPONSORED BY
Tony Rigoni , Quanergy Director of Industrial Markets