SBIR Phase II: Affordable, Multi-wavelength Imager plus Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) for Autonomous Vehicles

这项基于SBIR传感器解决方案的小企业创新研究第二阶段项目具有更广泛的影响和商业潜力，其高质量和低成本将使高级驾驶辅助系统（ADAS）行业加速发展，实现更大的辅助驾驶功能，最终实现全自动驾驶。该主题焦平面阵列（FPAS）芯片可以减少目前美国每年36,560例车辆死亡（1-54岁人群死亡的主要原因），以及减少440万次需要医疗护理的伤害和8,710亿美元的损害和健康费用。此外，改进的辅助驾驶将提高老年人/残疾人的行动能力。最后，由于加速和刹车更加省油，这项技术可能会减少交通拥堵，从而减少社会的碳足迹。该小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目旨在改进当前的ADAS传感器套件，以提高安全性。当前的ADAS系统需要同时实现许多不同的传感器技术。这些传感器不足以实现更高水平的自动驾驶，限制了车辆在恶劣条件下的使用。提出的传感器解决方案将在低光和恶劣天气条件下发挥高性能。增加的传感器功能将减少集成和分析传感器数据以及检测道路危险所需的处理器带宽，从而提高系统的准确性。总体而言，这种性能的改进可能会提高ADAS车辆的整体安全性。将开发一个评估系统来表征传感器。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project based on this SBIR sensor solution, with its high quality and low cost, will enable the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) industry to accelerate the progress to greater functionality of assisted driving, ultimately reaching full autonomy. The subject focal plane array (FPAS) chips may reduce the current US 36,560 annual vehicles deaths (the leading cause of death for those 1-54 years old) as well as reduce the 4.4 million injuries requiring medical attention and the $ 871 billion in damages and health costs. Additionally, improved assisted driving will enhance the mobility of seniors/disabled. Finally, the technology may reduce the societal carbon footprint by reducing congestion as a result of more fuel-efficient acceleration and braking.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project seeks to improve the current ADAS sensor suite to increase safety. Current ADAS systems require many different sensor technologies to be implemented simultaneously. These sensors are insufficient to achieve higher levels of autonomy limiting the vehicle’s used in poor conditions. The proposed sensor solution will function in low light and harsh weather conditions with high performance. The added sensor functionalities will reduce the processor bandwidth required to integrate and analyze sensor data and detect road hazards, increasing the accuracy of the system. Overall, this improvement in performance may increase the overall safety in ADAS vehicles. An evaluation system will be developed to characterize the sensor.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.