Hitachi Astemo, Tier-1 automotive supplier formed from a merger between Hitachi and Honda affiliates, will integrate TriEye’s Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensor in its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Hitachi Astemo’s systems are based on two cameras and a radar, and integrating the new sensor will broaden its capabilities in adverse weather and low-light conditions, where cameras’ performance is insufficient. 

Hitachi is going to use TriEye’s latest technology, the SEDAR (Spectrum Enhanced Detection and Ranging). This is an entire solution for the automotive world. Using this technique, it is possible to generate a detailed depth-map for automated driving applications, based on raw information obtained from the sensor in HD resolution and a detailed in-depth map of the environment outside the vehicle – all this even in adverse weather conditions.

Hitachi Astemo was founded in 2019 as a joint venture of Hitachi Automotive Systems (66%) and Honda (33%). It is composed of three Honda’s parts divisions and Hitachi’s subsidiary Hitachi Automotive systems. The annual revenue of the merged company is about $20 billion, and with more than 75,000 employees, it is considered the second Tier 1 Company in the world. The company develop and produce powertrain systems for Automatic Vehicle, electronically control units,  shock absorbers, chassis parts, steering systems and, as mentioned, safety systems.

ny was founded in 2017 by Avi Bakal (CEO), Prof. Uriel Levy (CTO), and Omer Kapach (VP R&D), and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Its technology enables cost-effective, high-resolution image data and depth perception in all weather and lighting conditions. Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) cameras are known to can allow for object and hazard detection even under the most challenging visibility conditions.

But the current utilization of Indium-Gallium-Arsenide (InGaAs) material to produce SWIR sensors, is complex, expensive and involved with long lead times. Following a decade of nanophotonics research by TriEye’s CTO, Prof. Uriel Levy, the company succeed to fabricate CMOS sensor,  allowing SWIR to enter mainstream use. According to TriEye, its sensor’s prices are thousand times lower than the existing InGaAs-based cameras.