First camera-LIDAR fusion sensor provides perfect optical alignment

Kyocera Corporation has developed its unique Camera-LIDAR Fusion Sensor, the world's first LIDAR that aligns the camera's and LIDAR's optical axes into a single sensor. This unique design permits the real-time acquisition of parallax-free superimposed data, a previously unattainable feat. It also provides the world's highest laser irradiation density as a LIDAR sensor, allowing long-distance and high-precision object detection.

LIDAR is expected to be essential to the commercialisation of autonomous driving. It delivers instant acquisition of long-range, highly accurate 3D information, allowing the detection of obstacles in complex environments and during high-speed movement with unparalleled accuracy. It provides excellent spatial recognition, identifying the distance to an object and its size from the time and angle of the reflected light bouncing back from a laser beam over a wide area. Typically, LIDAR is employed with cameras to identify objects more accurately, but parallax in the data from the separate units often caused delays in calibration between the sensors. The company's new sensor integrates the camera and high-resolution LIDAR in a single unit for parallax-free, real-time data integration, ensuring efficient and accurate results.

Using its unique optical design technology, the company is the first to integrate the camera and LIDAR into a single unit with aligned optical axes. This allows the real-time integration of camera image data and LIDAR distance data for the most advanced object recognition to date.

LIDAR can recognise small obstacles over long distances by increasing the density of laser beams emitted, thereby improving resolution and accuracy. The company's innovative sensor has an irradiation density of 0.045°, and it uses its proprietary laser scan unit technology from MFPs and printers, making it possible to detect a 30cm falling object at a distance of 100m.

In LIDAR, a MEMS mirror or motor is required to irradiate laser light over a wide and high-density area. However, MEMS mirrors typically have lower resolution, and motors tend to wear out quickly. The company's new integrated sensor provides higher resolution than motor-based systems and greater durability than conventional MEMS mirrors. A proprietary MEMS mirror, developed with Kyocera's advanced manufacturing and ceramic package technologies and high-resolution laser scanning technology, supports high-precision sensing for various industries, including autonomous vehicles, marine/ships, heavy machinery, and more.

The company can customise solutions for specific applications to optimise performance and features required for various use cases. It develops and manufactures each element for total control and customisation, from MEMS mirrors to optical systems, electrical circuits, and software.

Kyocera aims to introduce this innovative integrated sensor for automotive applications and other fields, such as construction machinery, ships, robots, and security systems that recognise people and objects.