[230811] #Innoviz #Hongqi #AEye

1. Innoviz Announces Public Offering of Ordinary Shares

• • Innoviz Technologies has initiated an underwritten public offering of $60.0 million worth of its ordinary shares.
  • The company is also considering granting the underwriters an option to acquire up to an additional $9.0 million of its ordinary shares at the offering price, less discounts and commissions.
  • The offering’s completion and its final size and terms depend on market conditions and other factors.
  • The proceeds from the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes.
  • Goldman Sachs is serving as the lead book-runner and representative of the underwriters for the offering.
  • Cantor and Berenberg are passive book-runners, while Rosenblatt is the co-manager for the offering.
  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared the registration statement on Form F-3 related to the ordinary shares effective since October 11, 2022.

2. Hongqi’s 3rd-Gen L4 Robotaxi sails through autonomous driving test in Beijing

• • Hongqi, the premium automobile brand under FAW Group, has achieved success with its third-generation L4 Robotaxi in the autonomous driving road test license examination within the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD).
  • The examination was based on BJHAD’s technical specifications and included a 30-day period for system deployment, software-hardware calibration, and on-site testing of the L4 Robotaxi.
  • The evaluation covered 26 scenarios, such as intersection navigation, pedestrian interaction, and vehicle conflict resolution, and the third-generation L4 Robotaxi performed exceptionally well in all areas.
  • This success marks the official debut of Hongqi’s third-generation L4 Robotaxi.
  • The vehicle features 7 solid-state LiDAR units, 7 cameras, and 5 millimeter-wave radars, with an annual iterative update cycle for the redundant autonomous driving system.
  • The new model, E-HS9, offers enhanced redundancy backup systems, remote control capabilities, and improved vehicle-road-cloud coordination.
  • Notably, the third-generation Robotaxi shares the same platform as Hongqi’s mass-produced vehicles, which enables it to achieve L4 autonomous driving proficiency while reducing costs.

3. Partnership to deliver world-class FMCW LiDAR solution

• • Indie Semiconductor and SiLC Technologies have formed a partnership to develop coherent detection-based LiDAR platforms for advanced sensing applications, such as driver assistance, autonomous mobility, robotics, and industrial automation.
  • The collaboration aims to create integrated vision system platforms using Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) detection, setting new standards for emerging LiDAR applications.
  • FMCW-based LiDAR offers advantages over Time of Flight (ToF) solutions, including extended range, high precision, immunity to interference, instantaneous velocity measurement, and motion tracking.
  • The partnership combines the strengths of both companies to create reference platforms that significantly improve sensing performance, manufacturability, power consumption, form factor, and cost in comparison to competing systems.
  • Indie Semiconductor’s Surya™ technology contributes software-defined high-performance analog and digital processing, along with low power consumption and system control capabilities.
  • SiLC’s Eyeonic vision solution adds cutting-edge FMCW LiDAR sensor technology with high integration, resolution, precision, long range, and unique polarisation information.
  • The reference platforms featuring Surya and Eyeonic have already been deployed in response to market demand. They are being evaluated by key automotive, Tier-1, and industrial OEMs.
  • Both companies are actively working on additional reference platforms to showcase the scalability and versatility of their combined technologies.

4. AEye fills investors in on new lidar product amid continued losses outpacing revenue

• • AEye’s 4Sight LiDAR platform, now available as 4Sight+, offers enhanced capabilities for detecting smaller objects at higher speeds, including pedestrians and obstacles at speeds of up to 80 mph.
  • The new functionality is crucial for safe hands-free highway driving and has received positive feedback from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) ecosystem.
  • The 4Sight+ platform includes a ZoomCam feature that can dynamically zoom in on objects, improving resolution at long distances.
  • The technology aims to identify hazardous conditions on the road, even during nighttime or high-speed driving, addressing challenges such as detecting objects like tires, lane reflectors, shadows, and dark-colored vehicles.
  • AEye uses a software-defined architecture to enhance the sensor’s range by 20% and increase spatial resolution by 400%, allowing it to detect small obstacles at high speeds while addressing hazardous vehicle cut-ins.
  • AEye has partnered with Continental and achieved significant milestones in addressing supply chain readiness and cost barriers to wider LiDAR adoption.
  • The CEO of AEye, Matt Fisch, sees a significant financial opportunity in the automotive LiDAR market, which is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 55% to reach $4.7 billion by 2028.
  • Despite losses in the millions, AEye is making progress in commercialization and has achieved major milestones in partnerships and supply chain readiness.

5. Keysight Releases Lidar Target Simulator

• • Keysight Technologies has expanded its autonomous driving validation test solutions with the E8717A LiDAR Target Simulator (LTS).
  • The E8717A LTS allows automakers and LiDAR sensor manufacturers to test and validate LiDAR sensors in autonomous vehicles (AVs).
  • LiDAR technology, originally used in metrology and topography, is now adopted in automotive applications to enable AVs to navigate complex driving scenarios.
  • LiDAR sensor manufacturers must ensure reliable object detection for accurate functioning of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in AVs.
  • Traditional testing methods require significant space, and there is a need to reduce sensor testing and validation costs in mass production.
  • The Keysight LTS solution uses a compact bench setup to simulate test targets at specified distances and reflectivity levels.
  • The solution simplifies and accelerates the test, validation, and production of automotive LiDAR sensors through standardization and automation.
  • The LTS setup simulates target distances from 3 meters to 300 meters and surface reflectivity between 10 and 94 percent.
  • Keysight aims to increase the use of LiDAR as a scalable manufacturing test solution, supporting variable distance and reflectivity simulation.