Stellantis has chosen Valeo’s third-generation lidar to equip multiple models of its various automotive brands from 2024. The Valeo Scala 3 lidar will enable these vehicles to be certified for Level 3 automation.
Yves Bonnefont, chief software officer, said, “What sets cars apart from others today is the driving experience they offer. Thanks to our L3 autonomous driving solution leveraging Valeo’s latest generation lidar, we will offer a more enjoyable driving experience and give back time to the driver during their journeys.”
Valeo’s third-generation lidar is capable of detecting objects more than 150m ahead that neither the human eye, cameras nor radars can, such as a small object with very low reflectivity or a tire lying in the road. It recreates a 3D image of the vehicle’s surroundings using a point cloud, with an as yet unparalleled resolution for an automotive system. It can map the ground topology and even detect road markings.
Marc Vrecko, president of Valeo’s Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group, commented, “A new chapter in driving assistance systems is being written with our partners at Stellantis. Level 3 vehicle automation can only be achieved with lidar technology. Without it, some objects cannot be detected. Yet at this level of autonomy, the system’s perception capabilities must be extremely precise. Our third-generation Valeo SCALA lidar offers a resolution nearly 50 times that of the second-generation device. The technology comes with unique data collection features, allowing Stellantis to pave the way for new vehicle experiences.”
Valeo’s lidar also features embedded software based on artificial intelligence algorithms, which enables it to steer the vehicle’s trajectory, anticipating obstacle-free zones on the road ahead. It can self-diagnose and triggers its cleaning system when its field of vision is obstructed.