Continental has acquired the Hi-Res 3D Flash LIDAR business from Advanced Scientific Concepts (ASC), based in Santa Barbara, California.
The technology enables a significantly more detailed and accurate field of vision around the entire vehicle, says Continental, with one advantage of the sensor technology being it provides both real-time machine vision as well as environmental mapping functions.
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“A range of surrounding sensors is needed to progress safely to the higher levels of automated driving,” said Continental EVP, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Business Unit and Member of the Management Board, Chassis & Safety Division,” Kaul Haupt.
“We have strong and proven capabilities with radar and camera as well as data fusion. However, it is important to have Hi-Res 3D Flash LIDAR in our technology portfolio to further strengthen and enhance our position in the development of automated driving.”
With the closing, ASC employees, primarily engineers, will join the Chassis & Safety Division of Continental as a business segment within the ADAS Business Unit, based in Santa Barbara.
The company is planning to grow to more than 100 engineers. Both agreed not to disclose the price for the acquisition.
In December, 2012, Continental says it was the first automotive supplier to earn approval from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to test autonomous vehicles on the State’s public roads.
The company has completed more than 72,000 miles of testing in automated driving mode, accompanied by a test engineer monitoring the vehicle’s performance.
In addition to the US and Germany, Continental has also started an automated driving initiative in Japan.
