Vueron Newsletter
No. 206
2025.05.20
| Waymo, Toyota strike partnership to bring self-driving tech to personal vehicles | ||
| LiDAR | Mercedes signs deal with Luminar to develop latest lidar sensors | |
| LiDAR | RoboSense Launches EMX: Industry-Leading 192-Beam Digital Automotive LiDAR, Entering Customizable Digital Era | |
| Plus, Hyundai Pitch Vision for Self-Driving Hydrogen Trucks |
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| Daimler Unleashes Self-Driving Truck for Testing in the USA |
1. Waymo, Toyota strike partnership to bring self-driving tech to personal vehicles
- Waymo and Toyota have announced a preliminary partnership to explore integrating Waymo’s autonomous driving technology into personally owned vehicles.
- The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of advanced driver assistance and full autonomy features for consumer vehicles.
- Toyota, the world’s largest automaker by sales, brings manufacturing expertise to complement Waymo’s software capabilities.
- This marks Waymo’s latest automotive partnership, adding to its previous collaborations with Jaguar Land Rover, Fiat Chrysler, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and Geely.
- The partnership may also lead to Toyota vehicles being used in Waymo’s ride-hailing fleet, according to Waymo’s co-CEO.
- Waymo continues expanding its ride-hailing service, now reaching 250,000 paid rides per week across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.
- Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai noted that Waymo is considering “future optionality” in the personal ownership model for its self-driving technology.
- The shift toward personally-owned autonomous vehicles reflects a broader industry trend beyond robotaxi applications.
Waymo and Toyota have formed a strategic partnership to explore the integration of autonomous driving technology into privately owned vehicles, signaling a shift toward consumer-focused self-driving solutions.
2. Mercedes signs deal with Luminar to develop latest lidar sensors
- Mercedes-Benz has signed a new agreement with Luminar Technologies to jointly develop and integrate Luminar’s next-generation Halo lidar sensor.
- This marks a shift from their previous supply deal for the Iris sensor, focusing now on deeper technology collaboration and future scalability.
- The Halo lidar is smaller and more efficient than its predecessor and can be seamlessly integrated into the vehicle’s roofline or windshield.
- Luminar CEO Austin Russell confirmed that the goal is to bring the technology into mass production in the coming years.
- Mercedes stated that it is working with multiple lidar partners and is currently evaluating next-generation lidar solutions, including Halo.
- The deal represents a strategic move by Mercedes to broaden the deployment of advanced driver assistance and autonomous features across more of its vehicle lineup.
- Some existing Mercedes high-end models already use lidar and support limited hands-free driving capabilities.
- This development reflects a broader trend among global automakers racing to deploy safer, more automated vehicle systems.
3. RoboSense Launches EMX: Industry-Leading 192-Beam Digital Automotive LiDAR, Entering Customizable Digital Era
- RoboSense has launched the EMX, a high-performance 192-beam digital automotive LiDAR, marking a major step forward in mass adoption of customizable digital LiDAR.
- The EMX delivers 2.88 million points per second with ultra-high angular resolution (0.08°×0.1°) and accurate detection of objects up to 300 meters.
- Its upgraded “Gaze” function enables dynamic resolution enhancement and a wide 140° field of view, optimizing performance across varied driving conditions.
- The compact and highly integrated form factor (120mm × 80mm × 30mm) supports seamless vehicle integration for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
- EMX includes environmental durability features such as anti-reflectivity interference and resistance to fog, dust, and contamination, ensuring safety in harsh conditions.
- The sensor is built using SPAD-SoC and VCSEL chips to ensure high sensitivity and data fidelity, supporting better spatiotemporal synchronization and perception fusion.
- RoboSense offers extensive product customization across its digital LiDAR portfolio, including beam counts and scanning specifications for different use cases.
- The EMX has already secured design wins from multiple automotive OEMs and is set to begin production within the year.
RoboSense has unveiled its EMX 192-beam digital LiDAR, offering industry-leading performance, customization, and compact integration for next-generation ADAS and autonomous driving systems.
4. Plus, Hyundai Pitch Vision for Self-Driving Hydrogen Trucks
- Plus and Hyundai Motor have announced a collaborative vision to integrate autonomous driving with hydrogen fuel cell technology in Class 8 trucks.
- The initiative, unveiled at the 2025 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, centers on combining Plus’ SuperDrive autonomous system with Hyundai’s Xcient Fuel Cell truck.
- Autonomous capabilities are expected to double vehicle utilization, helping offset the higher cost of zero-emission hydrogen trucks and improving total cost of ownership.
- The companies plan to deploy these trucks along major freight corridors using a hub-to-hub model, with future expansion tied to the development of hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
- The partnership aims to create a scalable model for clean and efficient freight transport in the U.S.
- Hyundai reiterated its commitment to sustainable transportation powered by advanced fuel cell technologies.
- Plus emphasized the strategic alignment between self-driving and zero-emission technologies as a foundation for future logistics innovation.
Plus and Hyundai have partnered to develop autonomous hydrogen fuel cell trucks, presenting a long-term vision for clean, efficient freight transportation in the U.S.
5. Daimler Unleashes Self-Driving Truck for Testing in the USA
- Daimler Truck has begun delivering autonomous-ready Cascadia Freightliners to Torc Robotics for real-world testing in the U.S.
- The trucks are based on the fifth-generation Cascadia platform, North America’s best-selling heavy-duty truck, and have been upgraded with over 1,500 changes.
- Key safety enhancements include redundant braking and steering systems and an integrated power network to support autonomous operations.
- Daimler and Torc aim to launch fully self-driving (Level 4) freight trucks for hub-to-hub operations by 2027.
- Field testing is currently underway in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and along the I-35 corridor between Dallas and Laredo.
- While the current models are diesel-powered, Daimler previously showcased an all-electric self-driving model, the Freightliner eCascadia, as a signal of long-term sustainability goals.
- This development sets a new industry benchmark for integrating autonomous systems into heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
Daimler has started U.S. testing of its upgraded autonomous-ready Cascadia trucks with Torc Robotics, targeting full Level 4 freight operations by 2027.
*Contents above are the opinion of ChatGPT, not an individual nor company
