Uhnder and Spartan deliver robust, all-weather, high-resolution sensing solutions for ADAS and automated vehicles
Spartan and Uhnder, Inc. are partnering to transform safety systems for ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and the AV (autonomous vehicle) industry. The partnership combines Uhnder’s digital radar technology based on digital code modulation (DCM) and Spartan’s exclusive sensor software to create next-generation perception solutions with new safety capabilities such as high contrast resolution (HCR) that helps differentiate closely spaced objects, critical for the safe commercialization of automated mobility.
Increasing safety is essential for passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. According to government statistics, traffic fatalities between January and September 2021 increased 12% as compared to the same period in 2020. This represents the highest percentage increase over a nine-month period since the Department of Transportation began recording fatal crash data in 1975.
The combined Uhnder/Spartan solution can detect dangerous objects in the road, such as an abandoned tire or construction debris, more than 200 meters away and trigger the AEB (automatic emergency breaking) in less than the blink of an eye. This advanced visibility and fast response is necessary for heavy trucks moving at highway speeds that need, at a minimum, the length of a football field to come to a full stop.
According to Eric Fuller, President and CEO of U.S. Xpress, one of the nation’s largest asset-based truckload carriers, “We’re always looking for the best safety technology and ways to provide more value to our customers. In the coming years as the ADAS market continues to improve and autonomous trucks begin to scale, we’ll need technologies that combine lidar-like resolution with sensor ruggedization. We’re looking for solutions that will handle the harsh real-world conditions of an autonomous truck driving hundreds of thousands of miles per year. We expect the Uhnder-Spartan partnership to deliver this performance; it can be a real game-changer.”
Uhnder CEO and Co-founder Manju Hegde said, “The transition from legacy analog radar to breakthrough digital radar is a critical step to improving ADAS systems and achieving increased safety on our roads. Our partnership with Spartan bolsters the tremendous capabilities of our leading radar sensor solution with enhancements from Spartan’s powerful sensor software that will go a long way to increasing safety for automated vehicles.”
Spartan’s proprietary biomimetic software algorithms leverage machine learning and edge-processing to provide high-resolution sensing that mimics the human ability of instantly shifting focus to safely respond to obstacles.
Spartan CEO and Co-founder Nathan Mintz said, “Spartan and Uhnder are accelerating the delivery of a pioneering sensing solution that can ultimately save lives. Uhnder’s advanced radar technology combined with Spartan’s software allows customers to create solutions that focus on what matters for safety, like discerning a car from a lane-splitting motorcycle or a bicyclist from a nearby guard rail.”
