Lumotive Unveils Solid-State LiDAR Utilizing Liquid Crystal Metasurfaces

Bill Gates-funded startup Lumotive has announced a LiDAR system that uses disruptive beam-steering technology the company says will significantly improve the performance, reliability, and cost of LiDAR systems for the autonomous car industry. Lumotive’s new system was designed using Liquid Crystal Metasurfaces and silicon fabrication, which gives the platform a 1,200 FOV, fast random-access beam steering, and a longer range without the need for any mechanical moving parts.

“Lumotive’s solution is ideal for automakers and Tier-1s seeking safer yet more cost-effective perception solutions for their vehicles. Our LiDAR sensors benefit tremendously from the unique attributes of beam-steering LCMs, which simultaneously offer large optical aperture, wide field-of-view, and fast scanning while having no moving parts. LCMs deliver the combination of performance and commercial viability that will finally eliminate barriers to adoption of LiDAR for both ADAS and autonomous vehicles.” — Lumotive co-founder Dr. William Colleran

Most current LiDAR systems use mechanical spinners to steer their beams, which limits their overall performance. By contrast, Lumotive’s solid-state system makes use of LCMs designed with specially engineered surfaces with tunable antennas embedded within them, allowing them to be manufactured using CMOS fabrication techniques. This enables the light-bending semiconductor chips to steer the laser pulses without needing to move the system for each pulse.

Lumotive states that their initial production units will be made available to select customers for Beta testing during the third quarter of this year. Although the company’s focus is on the autonomous vehicle industry (or robo-taxis), they will also make their LCM-based LiDAR platform available for robotics, drones, and industrial automation.