Applied Intuition and Luminar Partner to Accelerate ADAS and AD Development for Automakers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & ORLANDO, Fla., April 23, 2024 -- Applied Intuition, a Silicon Valley-based vehicle software supplier, and Luminar (Nasdaq: LAZR), a leading global automotive technology company, are partnering to accelerate the development and adoption of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) systems for automakers. In a first step of the partnership, the companies will jointly provide the first validated sensor models of Luminar lidars, enabling automakers to test and validate ADAS and AD perception systems using Applied Intuition Sensor Sim, a physics-based sensor simulator, with integrated sensor models of Luminar lidars.

Lidar sensors and software play a crucial role in ADAS and AD safety and performance, but testing and validating perception systems in the real world can be time-consuming, expensive, and dangerous. Studies show that fully autonomous systems would need to drive millions of real-world miles to demonstrate safety. Automakers can save millions of dollars annually by shifting 90% of real-world perception development and testing into simulation. Using Applied Intuition and Luminar’s joint solution, automakers will be able to accurately test lidar-based perception systems in virtual environments while reducing testing costs and accelerating time to market. 

Sensor Sim enables automakers to create and simulate edge case scenarios, enabling the end-to-end testing of capabilities such as pedestrian detection and avoidance in urban areas. The integrated Luminar sensor models accurately capture lidar behaviors like dynamic scan patterns. This reduces the simulation-to-real domain gap, ensuring that simulation tests correlate with a lidar’s real-world performance.

Luminar uses Sensor Sim and Applied Intuition Object Sim, a prediction, planning, and controls simulator, to validate its sensor models to ensure their high realism and accuracy. Luminar and automakers can also leverage Applied Intuition Cloud Engine to run scalable regression tests in cloud simulation and Validation Toolset to assess performance and track coverage across different operational design domains.

“Time for software development, integration, and validation of our lidar is one of the most significant bottlenecks for automaker adoption cycles, and to date, the industry has been missing an integrated solution to this problem,” said Austin Russell, Founder and CEO of Luminar. “Applied intuition has become an established leader in the software toolchain for multiple top automakers developing next-generation ADAS and autonomous systems, and introducing our joint solution across our customer bases can accelerate the adoption curve for our lidar and beyond.”

“Just as lidar sensors play an important role in safe and performant autonomous driving, an industry-first, validated toolchain is crucial to successfully developing, testing, and deploying these capabilities,” said Qasar Younis, Co-Founder and CEO of Applied Intuition. “Our joint solution with Luminar is groundbreaking. For the first time, customers can test validated Luminar lidars in our certified simulation tools, bringing high-quality autonomous systems to market faster than ever before. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration with the Luminar team and expanding our partnership in the future.”

Validated sensor models of the Luminar Iris and Iris+ lidars will soon be available in Applied Intuition Sensor Sim, with plans to expand the solution to the Luminar Halo lidar soon.

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About Applied Intuition

Applied Intuition is a Tier 1 vehicle software supplier that accelerates the adoption of safe and intelligent machines worldwide. Founded in 2017, Applied Intuition delivers the definitive ADAS/AD toolchain and a world-class vehicle platform to help customers shorten time to market, build industry-leading products, and create next-generation consumer experiences. 18 of the top 20 global automakers trust Applied Intuition’s solutions to drive the production of modern vehicles. Applied Intuition serves the automotive, trucking, construction, mining, agriculture, and defense industries and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, with offices in Ann Arbor and Detroit, MI, Washington, D.C., Munich, Stockholm, Seoul, and Tokyo. Learn more at https://appliedintuition.com.

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About Luminar

Luminar is a global automotive technology company ushering in a new era of vehicle safety and autonomy. For the past decade, Luminar has built an advanced hardware and software/AI platform to enable its more than 50 industry partners, including the majority of global automotive OEMs. From consumer vehicle programs with Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz to technology partnerships including NVIDIA and Mobileye, Luminar is poised to be the first automotive technology company to enable next-generation safety and autonomous capabilities for global production vehicles.