Q&A: Three’s Not a Crowd When It Comes to ADAS Sensors

Clement Nouvel, CTO for lidar at Valeo, believes in the three main sensor food groups for ADAS and Level 3 operation: lidar, radar and cameras.

July 24, 2024

John Dinkel

SAE Media spoke with Clement Nouvel, Valeo’s chief technical officer for lidar, about Valeo’s background in ADAS and what’s coming next. Nouvel leads over 300 lidar engineers and the company’s Scala 3 lidar is used on production vehicles from European and Asian automakers.

Clement Nouvel, Valeo’s chief technical officer for lidar. (Valeo)

SAE Media: Let’s start with Valeo’s background in ADAS.

Nouvel: We started investing in lidar, which we call Scala for “scaling lidar,” about 13 years ago. And we were first to the market with Level 3 technology. Our first was a Japan-only, 2021 Honda Legend with five of our first-generation Scala units.

The second is the recently released Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which is operating at Level 3 in Germany and in Arizona and California. So, yes, we can say that Level 3 is enabled only by Valeo and we have a big head start in the industry.

Our latest-generation Scala lidar offers higher [12 times better] resolution, three times better range [now more than 200 meters] and a wider viewing angle [2.5 times wider]. [Valeo claims the first-generation Scala system could map 44,000 points per second, increasing to 260,000 for Scala 2 and to 12.5 million points per second with Scala 3, creating point clouds that are as sharp as a photo.]

SAE Media: Valeo is a believer in all three ADAS technologies: lidar, radar and cameras. But some companies aren’t.

Nouvel: The key here is what technologies do you need to enable the delegation of the driving process to the car. That’s what we call Level 3, and if you look at the industry, there is large consensus that this requires a tech triple: lidar, radar, cameras.

Each technology has its pros and cons and, if I use a camera only, then you would have issues at night or when you're blinded by the sun. Radar has its own shortcomings, and the same is true of lidar. Those who are not opting for lidar are actually not delivering Level 3. That's what we need to keep in mind. The main question is: do you want to read books or watch a video? If you really want the machine to be responsible, then you cannot do that with the right level of reliability and safety without lidar. That's the bottom line. Today, Level 3 requires lidar.

SAE Media: How is Valeo different from its competitors?

Nouvel: There are a lot of startups investing in lidar. There’s a large wave of lidar coming from Chinese technology and investments. But it requires a huge investment to get lidar up and running and make it profitable. For the newcomers, it’s extremely difficult to keep up the pace.

Valeo is already at our third generation of lidar. We've acquired a lot of experience. We are probably the only company in the world able to make progress while not having to invent new lidar technology, or make massive investments. We are doing it step-by-step and that's what sets us apart today.