Veoneer Inc, the world’s largest pure-play company focused on Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, collaborative and automated driving, has been awarded a production contract to manufacture the world’s first thermal camera for a Level 4 autonomous vehicle.

Veoneer’s engineering will be funded by a world-leading automaker to handle conditions of low visibility including darkness, smoke, sun and headlight glare.

This first-of-its-kind Level 4 autonomous driving system will employ multiple high-resolution thermal cameras to enhance safety for the mobility-as-a-service market. The system uses narrow and wide field-of-view thermal cameras to enhance the detection of pedestrians, animals, vehicles, motorcycles, bicyclists, and objects to complement the capabilities of other sensor technologies. The start of production is planned for 2021. 

This latest thermal sensing system is built upon Veoneer’s fourth-generation night vision system which uses a high-resolution thermal camera plus advanced analytics to detect pedestrians and animals on the road at night, warning drivers of potential dangers in total darkness and other low visibility conditions. Thermal cameras can sense very small temperature differences to differentiate objects from their surroundings at extended ranges under all lighting conditions.  

Veoneer is the market leader for night vision systems for automotive applications, available globally on more than 40 vehicle models. Veoneer’s fourth-generation night vision system will launch in 2020.

“Thermal cameras are critical for enhancing the safety of autonomous vehicles because of their unique sensing capabilities,” says Jan Carlson, Chairman, President and CEO, Veoneer, Inc. “This award is an industry breakthrough for Veoneer and the future of self-driving cars. We are honored to have been selected by this premier global automaker to contribute to the evolution of highly automated driving systems.”