Oxbotica, Navtech to Launch Radar-Based Navigation and Perception System in 2020

Radar technology in the automotive industry seems to have fallen by the wayside, thanks to the rapid evolution of video sensing equipment. After all, you can better detect objects if you can see them, right? Unfortunately, tests have shown that video sensing systems are not at all that reliable. In fact certain versions of such systems can be completely ineffective, especially at night.

With such information in mind, Oxbotica, global leader in vehicle autonomy, revisited radar technology in the hopes of helping it reach its full potential. Partnering with Navtech, a global radar solution company, Oxbotica has announced the development of a radar-based navigation and perception system to be launched in 2020.

According to Oxbotica, the newly developed tech represents the latest advancement in radar-based technology, and the partnership between the two companies from relative industries “marks an important milestone in Oxbotica’s plans to take its software from development towards commercial deployment.”

The new radar system employs a multi-modal approach, using radar, vision and laser to localize object location in real time. Oxbotica says that their multi-module localization system “allows customers to deploy autonomy in both on-road and off-road locations, whether in mines, ports or airports and whatever the weather conditions where standard GPS or lidar is not possible.”

What’s more, the product does not need any external infrastructure to do its job. It can operate on its own or be incorporated with other location services that employ GPS, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), or laser vision. This much flexibility was part of Oxbotica’s goal for the product from the get-go, adhering to their vision of a modular and integrated approach.

 “This collaboration with Navtech is a key milestone in bringing autonomy especially to off-road domains such as mines, ports, or airports where existing lidar or GPS may not function effectively due to weather or operating conditions such as dust, rain, or snow,” said Oxbotica CEO Ozgur Tohumcu.

“Navtech is a fantastic partner with their unbeatable track record of producing autonomy sensors – powering off-road autonomy around the world for nearly two decades. Incoming demand from customers and our own market research prove that there will be wide applications of this product addressing both on-road and off-road deployments,” Tohumcu added.

“Navtech are delighted to be working with Oxbotica on this project,” claimed Phil Avery, CEO of Navtech. “Despite the potential of radar very few companies have successfully developed the necessary algorithms to use it properly. Oxbotica are world leaders in this area and together with our high performance radars sensors we believe the resulting system will deliver a step change in the performance available for all weather all environment localization and perception. This is crucial for automation in more challenging environments such as mines and ports.”

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