Virtual AI software developer Oculii has unveiled what it says is one of the world’s highest-resolution commercial imaging 4D radars, which utilizes its AI platform for radar perception.
The system is powered by the company’s Virtual Aperture Imaging software platform, which uses AI to enhance the resolution and sensitivity of any radar hardware by up to 100x, enabling high-resolution, long-range, all-weather perception with existing market-proven, low-power, cost-effective, automotive-grade radar sensors.
Radar, with its low cost, reliability and all-weather vision, has transformed the automotive industry, powering innovations like emergency braking, blind-spot detection and parking-assist systems. However, due to radar’s limited resolution, it has fallen short of the automotive industry’s autonomy needs. It is possible to improve radar performance by adding more antennas to sensors, but this approach significantly increases cost, size and power consumption.
Oculii claims its approach uses AI software to solve this hardware problem. The imaging platform dynamically sends out an adaptive, phase-modulated waveform that changes with the environment in real time and then encodes that data over time, increasing the resolution of any radar hardware. The company states that this improved resolution and sensitivity unlocks the potential of market-proven commercial radars by enabling all-weather sub-degree horizontal and elevation spatial resolution up to 350m around a full 360° field of view.
“Oculii is challenging fundamental century-old assumptions about radar with a full-stack, holistic view of radar perception,” said Oculii CEO and co-founder Steven Hong. “By developing an innovative AI platform that constantly learns from and adapts to the environment, we have radically transformed what is possible with radar perception, paving the road for a safer and more autonomous future.”