{"id":3497,"date":"2018-09-03T19:22:55","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T19:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athis-consulting.com\/news\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2018-10-02T10:28:03","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T10:28:03","slug":"wavesense-brings-its-patented-military-grade-ground-penetrating-radar-to-self-driving-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athis-technologies.com\/news\/innovation\/automotive\/2018\/wavesense-brings-its-patented-military-grade-ground-penetrating-radar-to-self-driving-vehicles\/","title":{"rendered":"WaveSense Brings its Patented Military Grade Ground-Penetrating Radar to Self-Driving Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"

WaveSense Inc<\/a>\u00a0has commercialized its patented military-proven\u00a0ground-penetrating radar (GPR)<\/a>. The radar is meant for improving navigation safety and precision on the road by keeping self-driving vehicles precisely in-lane. The company has several pilots underway with leading global players in the automotive and technology sectors and is currently closing a $3 million seed round led by\u00a0Rhapsody Venture Partners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recent fatalities tragically underscore the inherent safety limitations of current self-driving vehicle technologies. Autonomous vehicles need to become safer for before widespread consumer adoption, ride hailing and adoption by the trucking industry. WaveSense\u2019s patented technology complements existing self-driving vehicle sensors – GPS\/INS, radar, lidar, cameras – to keep vehicles precisely in-lane, especially in poor weather conditions including snow, rain and fog and where lane markings do not exist or are unclear and confusing.<\/p>\n

Current systems used by leading players in self-driving vehicles that solely rely on above ground sensors like GPS, lidar and cameras to identify the exact position of the vehicle are insufficient, often handicapped by visibility issues, and struggle with weather and constant changes in the above-ground driving environment. With the addition of subsurface data to above-ground sensor information, self-driving cars will have a\u00a0comprehensive capability to know their exact position at all times.<\/p>\n

Using ground-penetrating radar, WaveSense builds a subterranean fingerprint of roadways and maps and tracks against unique geologic patterns. It scans up to 10 feet below the road to lock on to stable underground features and keep self-driving vehicles safely and precisely in-lane. As the vehicle drives, WaveSense continually scans the subsurface soil layers, rocks and road bedding about 126 times per second and compares the scans to its onboard image database to determine the exact vehicle position in relation to the road. This mode of navigation has been demonstrated to be accurate to within a few centimeters (approximately 1 inch) at standard highway speeds, even during night time whiteout snowstorm conditions.<\/p>\n

WaveSense\u2019s mapping and sensor system\u00a0<\/strong>improves<\/strong>\u00a0navigation safety for self-driving vehicles:<\/strong><\/p>\n