Since the release of ZVISION EZ6, the first product of the SPAD lidar series, in early 2024, the slogan "LiDAR equal rights, entering the thousand-dollar era" has been recognized by the industry. Friends have also followed up and launched their own ultra-low-cost products. cost plan. In fact, behind the demand for thousand-yuan machines is not only the strong demand for cost reduction in the self-driving market, but also a reflection of the industry and consumers re-recognizing the value of lidar in self-driving systems: lidar can not only improve the application experience of self-driving systems, but also It is the bottom line of safety for the entire self-driving system.
LiDAR equality is the starting point, and self-driving inclusiveness is our ultimate goal. At this auto show, Yijing Technology launched ZVISION EZ5, a new product with the ultimate cost-effectiveness, firmly responding to "LiDAR equality" with another masterpiece. Yi Jing believes that the ultimate cost-effectiveness, performance and price are indispensable. The core is not the low price, but to make customers feel that they are worth their money, so that thousands of car buyers can enjoy better cars at a lower cost. High-end intelligent driving services make lidar a standard feature of self-driving solutions, achieving the goal of inclusive self-driving. We also firmly believe that EZ5 must be a more capable product with better performance at the same price and lower price with the same performance.
EZ5 sketch: the ultimate product definition
· 25mm thin: The whole vehicle has a friendly shape, which helps improve the appearance of the vehicle.
· 120°*20° FOV: typical field of view definition, algorithm adaptation takes the longest time
· Up to 220m ranging: to ensure safety needs - one inch is longer and one inch is stronger
· Supports up to 192 lines: 192 high line count, image-level point cloud
· Optimum resolution 0.1°*0.1°: ultra-precise perception, one step ahead of small obstacles
· Can support 20HZ: high frame rate, fast response, safer
· High integration, digitalization, platformization: ultimate cost, advanced architecture
· The ultimate cost-effectiveness without fear of comparison: better performance for the same price, lower price for the same performance
As shown in the figure above, the product goal of EZ5 is to provide customers with superior lidar performance while maximizing its cost and becoming a standard feature for more low-priced self-driving models.
Minimalist architecture, ultimate cost
Platform design based on highly integrated SPAD chip
Compared with the traditional LiDAR architecture based on SiPM or APD, the EZ series product design architecture has a SPAD chip that replaces most of the discrete components of the previous optoelectronic front-end → amplification link → analog-to-digital conversion → digital signal processing, greatly simplifying This reduces the architectural complexity; at the same time, thanks to the fact that core distance information acquisition has been completed in the SPAD SoC, the back-end only needs to be equipped with an ultra-low computing power processor to complete all laser radar signal processing.
Yijing has highly condensed the architecture of EZ6, making it a universal platform product architecture, and finally achieved the reuse of core SPAD, VCSEL & processors to ensure the simple beauty and cost advantage of the architecture; at the same time, in addition to the aforementioned BOM cost, The potential platform maturity, development speed and quality, and trial and error iteration costs are also well guaranteed.
From the perspective of industry technology development trends, the selection of highly integrated SPAD chips will also help get rid of dependence on highly complex proprietary chips. It is foreseeable that universal chips can better promote industry standardization, thereby effectively increasing LiDAR penetration.
LiDAR system design further simplified
For the new EZ5, Yijie has reorganized the product definition. While ensuring the upper limit of performance, it focuses on the realization of slim size and ultimate cost-effectiveness, and efficiently reconstructs the entire machine design focusing on the optical-mechanical system. As shown in the figure above, the core key components have been significantly optimized/simplified, including: the size of the rotating mirror has been reduced by 40%, the light window area has been reduced by 44%, and the optical system components have been halved. EZ5 ultimately achieves further cost reduction through reasonable and comprehensive optimization/simplification of the optical-mechanical system.
Easy to use: EZ-Key
——The key to good application of EZ series products
One of the original intentions of the EZ series products is ease of use, and ease of use is also the key for customers to fully utilize the effectiveness of lidar and reduce development costs.
At this auto show, Yijing Technology launched a new lidar environmental adaptability kit EZ-Key for the EZ platform series products, aiming to help customers solve the problem of lidar point cloud adaptability in various complex scenarios, allowing customers to focus more on Application of lidar point cloud.
The EZ-Key suite includes: dirt detection, rain/fog/dust/exhaust gas detection, drawing algorithm, ghost removal algorithm, expansion point suppression algorithm, which can effectively solve the impact of false point clouds on point cloud quality in various scenarios. ;This suite is an independently completed product form that will be iterated and upgraded independently of the lidar hardware. It can be deployed on the lidar itself or flexibly integrated into the client's domain control.
For example, dirt detection and alarm have always been important functions of LiDAR applications. The EZ-Key suite supports this function through multi-level combined discrimination: signal-level dirt detection based on single-point raw data characteristics + based on typical dirt distribution Point cloud-level pollution detection can not only directly provide pollution detection solutions, but also make customized adjustments according to customers' requirements for pollution alarm sensitivity, and ultimately achieve detection of water droplets, water films (continuous rainfall), transparent plastics, and pollution. Sensitive and accurate detection of mud, etc.
technology driven change
Lidar’s road to standardization
Yijing believes that in addition to lower cost and better performance, sensor modularization must be the most important factor in promoting the next stage of lidar development. Analogous to the camera system in the current self-driving system, the camera module is a highly standardized module, and the customized information processing part (such as ISP) has been moved to the self-driving domain control SoC with stronger computing power.
Yijing’s view is that lidar based on the SPAD architecture can support the above-mentioned evolution path. Specifically, in the existing LiDAR → domain controller link, the core processor inside LiDAR performs certain processing on the original data and then transmits it to the domain control SoC. To a certain extent, this is a waste of computing power, and there are also Loss of information dimension; one-path SPAD product architecture evolution route: LiDAR devices are further streamlined, retaining only the optoelectronic front-end, which directly transmits the original signal to the domain control, and the EZ-Key algorithm suite is deployed to the domain control end, that is: the calculation of the LiDAR is The computing power is moved up to the domain controller (abbreviation: computing power is moved up).
The LiDAR module with increased computing power has the following benefits:
· Further reduce costs and get rid of dependence on ASIC;
· Realize the modularization of the laser radar optoelectronic front-end, and the power consumption of the module can also be minimized;
· LiDAR data standardization, massive corner case raw data can be used to iteratively upgrade the laser point cloud algorithm.
In this direction, Yijing is working with head OEMs and head chip suppliers to carry out early ecological construction and technology exploration. We believe that our exploration results will promote the further development of the LiDAR industry in the near future.
The EZ product family is further enriched
The launch of EZ5 further enriches the product matrix of SPAD's digital lidar, and provides a combined punch for the slogan of "LiDAR equal rights, entering the thousand-yuan era": EZ6, as a cost-effective product that meets mainstream applications, was the first to launch There is a trend in the industry to reduce the cost of "flagship phones"; as an extremely cost-effective product, the EZ5's extreme cost advantage is expected to become the self-driving standard equipment of more low-priced models while ensuring superior performance, ultimately supporting "self-driving" inclusive” vision.
The EZ5 was released at the Beijing Auto Show. Welcome to visit and communicate.
During the Beijing Auto Show from April 25 to May 4, Yijing Technology will grandly launch its latest masterpiece - ZVISION EZ5 on April 27. This product is highly anticipated for its excellent cost performance.We sincerely invite industry experts and partners to come to the site to witness this important moment and have in-depth exchanges.Our booth is located at No. W07, Hall E2, and we look forward to your visit.
The original text was originally posted on the WeChat public account (Yijing Technology): Yiji further enlarges its strategy and releases the cost-effective ceiling ZVISION EZ5
English 
Chinese