California-based 3D sensing technology developer Cepton Technologies Inc has announced that its multi-application Helius Smart Lidar System has been named as a CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2020 Innovation Awards Honouree in two categories.
The CES Innovation Awards program by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is a prestigious global competition held annually to recognise outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products across a wide range of categories. This year, Cepton’s Helius system is honoured in two categories: ‘Tech for a Better World’, which highlights product innovations aiming to make positive social and global impacts; and ‘Smart Cities’, recognising technologies and applications designed to improve urban experiences with increased intelligence. Cepton says this recognition validates its commitment to bringing intelligent lidar-based object detection, tracking and classification systems to a variety of industries, enabling companies and cities to build a safer, smarter world.
Cepton’s state-of-the-art Helius lidar system delivers advanced object detection, tracking and classification capabilities to enable a wide range of applications for smart cities, transport infrastructure, security and others. It embodies an unprecedented fusion of three cutting-edge technologies: industry-leading 3D lidar sensing powered by Cepton’s patented Micro Motion Technology (MMT); edge computing for minimum data burden and maximum ease of integration; and built-in advanced perception software for real-time analytics. The ground-breaking system not only makes use of the company’s expertise in developing long-range, high-resolution and cost-efficient lidar, but also opens up the door to a variety of applications where data privacy can be protected by Helius’ anonymous scanning and analytics.
Helius provides centimetre-accurate 3D sensing of the dimension, location and velocity of objects, regardless of lighting conditions, and can collect and process data from multiple sensors for seamless object tracking across sensor coverage zones. Applications of the Helius system for the transportation industry include:
- Smart intersections and traffic management – the system can help ensure safety and efficiency at road intersections and railway crossings by monitoring pedestrians and vehicles, and can also provide information on traffic density and patterns to automate traffic lights and enable route optimisation;
- Transport infrastructure – the lidar can track vehicles to provide accurate and real-time information to optimise parking management in cities. It can also profile vehicles and survey the road surface to evaluate potential road surface damage and to help automate tolling by classifying different types of vehicles passing at highway speeds;
- Crowd analytics – the system can provide valuable anonymized information about how pedestrians and cyclists move about, tracking the occupancy of streets to automate lighting, identify the impact of construction projects, and advance planning decisions.
“Helius is a true game changer, combining lidar with edge computing and advanced perception software to help advance the transformation of smart cities, such as making transportation more efficient, increasing safety and enabling anonymised crowd analytics,” explained Neil Huntingdon, VP of business development at Cepton. “With its superior performance, cost efficiency and easy configuration, Helius will help usher in the transition from 2D to 3D perception as more companies and cities take advantage of this intelligent lidar system.”
