Self-driving cars rely on many sensors to detect objects and the world around them. The traditional approach is to use cameras and lidar. However, some technology companies and startups have developed advanced high-resolution radar technology for self-driving cars, also known as 4D imaging radar.
Among them is Bitsensing, a South Korea-based startup that closed a $25 million Series B round of funding for its high-resolution radar technology, which it says its 4D imaging radar can be applied not only to autonomous driving but also to smart cities and digital healthcare.
Bitsensing was founded in 2018 by Jae-Eun Lee, CEO of bitsensing, a former senior research engineer who led Korea's first mid-range 77GHz automotive advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) at Mando Corporation, a Tier 1 supplier in Korea.
In 2015, Lee witnessed a tragic traffic accident on Incheon Yeongjong Bridge in South Korea, caused by heavy fog and poor visibility. This was a turning point for him, as he realized how important the adoption of radar technology could be in preventing such accidents. He decided to launch BitSensing to focus on accelerating the commercialization of radar.
“Traditional approaches, especially in the automotive sector, often focus on cameras and lidar systems. However, these systems are limited by environmental conditions such as poor lighting, fog and rain that are essential for mobility systems,” Li said, adding that these limitations can reduce accuracy and reliability in detecting objects and ensuring safety.
When asked whether 4D imaging technology could replace LIDAR in the near future, Li replied that although the current performance of imaging radar is still not close to the extremely high resolution of current LIDAR systems, it has great potential. In other words, as imaging radar technology continues to evolve, it is expected to reach a level where it can replace LIDAR, possibly at a faster pace than the development of LIDAR itself.
At CES 2023, Amnon Shashua, CEO of Israel-based autonomous driving company Mobileye, said in a speech that Mobileye, which is also developing its own 4D radar, wants to deploy only 4D imaging radar other than front LIDAR by 2025. Shashua's comments attracted attention from industry insiders. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, most OEMs will incorporate 4D imaging radar into their ADAS/AD sensor suites along with cameras, LIDAR, and other perception and imaging radars.
Bitsensing isn't the only company developing 4D imaging radar: California-based Altos Radar and Tel Aviv- and Dallas-based Arbe Robotics are also developing high-resolution radar to help autonomous vehicles see objects around them, and Lee also cited Oculii and Zendar as the startup's industry peers.
When asked what sets it apart from competitors, the company's high-resolution 4D imaging radar provides a surround detection solution for autonomous vehicle systems with a range of over 300 meters and a 50% improvement in detection range compared to traditional radars.
Additionally, the company claims that its Traffic Information Monitoring Sensor (TIMOS) is the first to integrate an edge AI computing device into an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) solution.
For example, the company's 24GHz AI traffic radar device is powered by Nvidia Jetson with integrated GPU system, which means TIMOS eliminates the need for cumbersome external PCs and cables, and provides a single system that quickly goes from data collection to analysis. Currently in use in six countries, TIMOS provides visibility and information for 12 lanes of traffic, detects vehicles such as cars and bikes, and can also identify safety hazards such as pedestrians not crossing the road, wrong-way driving, speeding, and stalled vehicles.
“Our traffic solution combines camera and radar technology, and we are currently working on projects to install this fusion radar along highways in Korea and abroad,” Lee continued. “Benefits include traffic management and tracking of unexpected events such as stopped vehicles, as well as providing real-time traffic information to control centers on vehicle volume, speed and occupancy.”
The company also hopes to apply its radar technology to digital health, specifically sleep care. The company says its radar can monitor sleep quality, apnea, and limb movements, providing data analytics on a user's sleep status.
“In the health tech space, we provide radar hardware and APIs for companies to integrate sleep quality monitoring into their software,” Lee told TechCrunch. “Currently, our solutions are being deployed in elderly care facilities and hospitals in South Korea, Singapore and Japan.”
Li said the company is currently in a revenue growth phase and is looking to expand globally through strategic partnerships where it can provide hardware, software, data and licensing agreements.
“Recently, delays in the practical application of autonomous driving technology have become a major issue, and some have suggested that the sensor market may be limited. However, as we move into the software-defined vehicle (SDV) era, there is an increasing need for rapid integration of multiple sensors with high performance from the early stages. As a result, the market for imaging radar and advanced radar is expected to expand rapidly,” said Lee.
Investors including Korea Development Bank, HL Mando Corporation, Korea Development Bank, and Aju Capital participated in the latest round, bringing the total amount raised since inception to $46 million.