Velodyne Lidar, Inc. today commended the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) plan to update to its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The NHTSA proposal would add four advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) capabilities to the NCAP, keeping pace with evolving safety technologies and providing much-needed information to consumers.
NCAP is the U.S. Government’s premier consumer information program for evaluating vehicle safety performance. The NHTSA proposal to add ADAS technologies to the NCAP includes pedestrian automatic emergency braking, lane keeping support, blind spot warning and blind spot intervention. The proposal asks for comments on how best to develop a NHTSA rating system for ADAS technologies. It also requests comments on potential approaches for conveying this information on the Monroney label, which is displayed on all new automobiles and provides important vehicle information to consumers.
“NHTSA’s proposal has the potential to save lives. Adding ADAS to NCAP is an excellent step forward in advancing safety features in cars and educating consumers on what those features can and cannot do,” said Mircea Gradu, PhD, Senior Vice President of Product and Quality, Velodyne Lidar. “Velodyne has long been engaged with NHTSA and other auto safety leaders on how to standardize ADAS features and establish a rating system that measures ADAS levels of performance. We are eager to work with the agency and all stakeholders on completing this important initiative.”
Velodyne has for years been dedicated to testing lidar sensors and developing safety metrics for ADAS systems. NHTSA’s new plans allow Velodyne to share the company’s findings, weighing in on the capabilities of lidar-centric ADAS systems which have superior performance after sundown, an advantage over current radar+camera-based ADAS solutions. Lidar is self-illuminating; its array of laser beams can accurately perceive the environment in darkness as well as in daylight. Lidar has long been a key sensor for autonomous driving and now Velodyne is applying lidar technology for ADAS vehicle safety, planning to offer software and lidar system solutions in increasing increments of safety and protection.
SOURCE: Velodyne Lidar
