Entrepreneur Corner: AdaSky Introduces a Complete Sensing Solution for 24/7 Autonomous Driving
Abe Michelen | August 02, 2018Out of the many components needed to create fully autonomous vehicles (AV), the sensors and software are of utmost importance. These are the components that enable AVs to see the road and distinguish different types of obstacles, including people, animals and other vehicles.
AdaSky, an Israeli startup founded in 2016, developed a sensing perception solution called Viper that is perfectly suitable for AVs. The technology combines a far infrared thermal camera with advanced machine vision algorithms to enable autonomous vehicles to see and understand the road in day or night, and in any kind of weather.
It uses an idea that's been around for a while, but offers a new take on the technology. It employs far infrared (FIR) detection, which has been used for many years in the defense, security, firefighting and construction industries for accurate and distance sensing. An FIR-based component uses far infrared waves to detect differences in heat emitted by any object and converts this heat radiation into an image.
Viper passively collects the FIR signal that radiates from objects, and unlike other FIR cameras, it then converts that into a VGA video. It applies proprietary, deep-learning, computer-vision algorithms to accurately detect and classify the object and to analyze the scene.
The technology uses a chip engineered by AdaSky that enables shutterless functionality so that the vehicle's vision is never mechanically blinded.
Viper is the first high-resolution, thermal-perception solution for AVs with minimal size, low power consumption and no moving parts.
AdaSky also developed a unique "sunburn protection" algorithm so that Viper can produce a clear image even in direct sunlight – something other FIR cameras can't do.
Another benefit of this technology is its affordability. LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors are crucial technology in self-driving vehicles, but they run in the thousands, making them generally unsuitable for mass market production.
Viper camera. Source: AdaSky
"We saw a powerful opportunity in the market. The most basic need for autonomous vehicles is to be able to see and interpret all objects and surroundings, in all conditions. Existing sensors and cameras available today can’t meet this need on their own. To address this, we engineered a state-of-the-art sensing and perception solution that allows autonomous vehicles to reliably detect, segment, and analyze pedestrians, animals, objects, and road conditions in day or night, regardless of the weather condition," Yakov Shaharabani, CEO of AdaSky said.