- US traffic-related fatalities touched a 16-year high in 2021, outstripping other major economies across the World
- The US Collision Industry Conference has forecast crash rates to decline by as much as 20% by 2030 on the back of widespread ADAS adoption
- Cepton has pioneered the use of lidar, a key sensor technology, across automotive and smart infrastructure applications. In 2019, the company was the recipient of the single largest ADAS lidar series production award with Koito on the General Motors business
- Cepton has now seen its lidar technology expand far beyond its initial intended use, ranging from revisioning public venues and commercial buildings to transportation infrastructure in Austria with efforts to improve the real–world traffic data from urban landscapes.
US traffic-related fatalities soared to a 16-year high in 2021, touching 42,915 deaths. (https://ibn.fm/RR73k). Astonishingly and despite the evolution of modern automotive safety measures in the United States, the nation suffered over double the number of road fatalities relative to the European Union despite having a population numbering over 100 million less than that of the EU. However, and according to the United States’ Collision Industry Conference (“CIC”), vehicular crash rates could decline by as much as 20 percent by 2030 (https://ibn.fm/grdrY) – largely a result of the ongoing development and adoption of advanced driver assistance systems (“ADAS”).
Long-established OEMs and start-ups alike have invested upwards of $106 billion in autonomous driving capabilities dating back to 2010, (https://ibn.fm/NBz1m) with advanced driver assistance systems – which form the foundation on autonomous driving capabilities, an increasingly ubiquitous presence within today’s vehicles through features such as adaptive cruise control, parking assistance, and forward collision warnings. Moreover, ADAS technology is set to evolve in coming years towards the enablement of more intelligent and autonomous driving systems, in turn leading to a host of additional potential benefits – fewer accidents due to human error, a drop in the cost and environmental impact of transport, and safer and more accessible driving, to name just a few.
Cepton (NASDAQ: CPTN), a Silicon Valley innovator and pioneer within high-performance lidar solutions, has been a key beneficiary of the increased focus on autonomous vehicles and the development of ADAS, rapidly increasing OEM interest in adding lidar technology to ADAS and autonomous driving systems for higher levels of safety and autonomy. Lidar technology has increasingly gained adepts for its ability to measure the distance of objects in 3D, providing the wherewithal to map the surroundings of an autonomously driven vehicle, quickly and efficiently.
Through its significant ADAS lidar series production award with Koito on the General Motors business, Cepton is leading the way in scaling up lidar for mass-market deployments. The scalability allows the company to expand its lidar’s use beyond automotive applications. Ranging from its efforts to resolve traffic congestion in major urban metropolises such as Austria’s mountainous landscapes which encounter different driving scenarios and pedestrian safety. In addition to their collaboration with Lithuania-based system integrator Belam to improve road user and rail passenger safety using obstacle detection at crossings (https://ibn.fm/AWi5V). Cepton’s scalability also reaches as far as incorporating lidar systems in security modalities. Bowler Pons, a specialist in technology-focused enhanced electronic security systems is utilizing Cepton’s anonymous lidar systems for improved detection and categorization, ultimately enabling autonomous alerts while protecting privacy (https://ibn.fm/HW7pV).
Dating back to its inception in 2016, Cepton has sought to market the concept of ‘Lidar for Life’, introducing the use of lidar technology in mass-market consumer vehicles as well as the development of smart infrastructure in cities, spaces, and industrial robotics. As a pivotal part of the company’s efforts in promoting lidar technology across different sectors, the company has invested in making lidar a truly scalable and accessible technology – cost efficient, reliable, and easy to integrate into various systems.
Dr. Jun Pei, co-founder and CEO of Cepton elaborated on the concept, “[despite being] a very established engineering enterprise, we’re still a start-up in working style with the mentality of each person that the sky is the limit. [Whilst] in the first meeting with an OEM you discuss lidar range and resolution for 10 minutes, [it is then] all about cost. If you are $1 more than the competitor, you are out the door. We captured a huge element in the cost.” (https://ibn.fm/Ajhls).
Having played an influential role in a technological revolution which has seen the cost of a single lidar device decline from tens of thousands of dollars several years ago to a few hundred dollars today, it is little wonder that Cepton, amongst dozens of other lidar manufacturers, received GM’s ADAS lidar series production award 2019 to support Ultra Cruise. A pathbreaking program in both the automotive industry and the history of lidar, the award will see Cepton’s lidar as one of the key sensor technologies enabling Ultra Cruise’s safe and autonomous driving capabilities in everyday passenger cars. However, the General Motors engagement is only one reminder of the potential of lidar technology for Dr. Pei, with Cepton envisioning an eventual future where lidar-enabled ADAS technology would be deployed across all vehicles, with the goal of drastically reducing accident rates.
“It’s a no-brainer”, said Dr. Pei.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Cepton.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CPTN are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CPTN
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