Luminar and Plus announce a strategic partnership that aims to propel autonomous driving and safety technologies for commercial vehicle manufacturers, utilizing Luminar’s lidar and Plus’s AI-enhanced driver assist software.
What’s Happening
Luminar, a global leader in automotive technology, and Plus, a renowned provider of autonomous driving solutions, recently confirmed their strategic partnership. This collaboration aims to enhance the development of autonomous driving and safety systems for commercial vehicle manufacturers. The partnership mandates that Luminar exclusively supplies mid- to long-range lidar for PlusDrive, Plus’s proprietary factory-installed assisted driving system designed for commercial vehicles. Concurrently, Plus is set to become the exclusive third-party provider of AI-powered driver assist software for Luminar’s commercial vehicle OEMs.
Why It Matters
Luminar CEO Austin Russell emphasized the significance of the trucking market and the role their partnership with Plus plays. Their technology, previously proven effective in consumer vehicles, is now being implemented in commercial vehicles. The partnership with Plus facilitates the expansion of safety and autonomous capabilities for production commercial vehicles on a much larger scale, in the wake of Plus’s commercial success with industry giants.
Key Points
Luminar’s Iris lidar, an industry-first, automotive-grade sensing solution, is capable of long-range detections. Designed to meet the stringent performance and reliability demands for class 8 commercial trucks, the lidar offers visibility up to 600 meters ahead. This feature is crucial for truck safety and comfort, ensuring trucks can smoothly come to a safe stop when required.
On the other hand, Plus’s L2++ solution, PlusDrive, already commercially available, is used by some of the world’s largest fleets. PlusDrive utilizes lidar, radar, and cameras from top-tier manufacturers for a 360-degree visibility and predictive capabilities for safer vehicle maneuvering. The AI-based software processes the data, predicts the behavior of surrounding vehicles, and then safely maneuvers the vehicle. The software is continuously improved via over-the-air updates.
Bottom Line
The partnership between Luminar and Plus paves the way for the evolution of next-gen safety and highly automated driving systems, providing considerable value for vehicle manufacturers and fleets. Luminar’s lidar capabilities will enhance PlusDrive’s long-range sensing, facilitating scalable commercialization of driver-in technology today and accelerating the path to full autonomy in the future. Beyond this, the partnership will also focus on Luminar’s commercial vehicle insurance program, high-definition mapping, and trucking sensor integration called Blade.
