NODAR

🎄 Happy Holidays from NODAR! 🎄 As the year comes to a close, we want to extend our heartfelt wishes for a joyful holiday season filled with warmth, happiness, and success. Thank you for being part of our journey—we’re excited for what’s to come in the new year! Let’s have some fun! What do you think NODAR stands for? A) Next-Gen Optical Design And Research B) Neural Optimization for Detection And Response C) No Lidar (No Problems) D) Navigating Obstacles with Detection And Ranging E) Networked Optical Data And Ranging F) Native Optical Detecting And Ranging G) Novel Optical Detection And Recognition H) Next-Gen Optical Drive And Response 👉 Leave your comment for a chance to win a pair of Hammerhead-branded socks! From all of us at NODAR, happy holidays and best wishes for a successful new year! 🎉

Hey perception engineers and managers! Are you using or looking to use lidar for 3D depth measurement? NODAR’s new product, Hammerhead HDK 2.0, delivers 10x the 3D data density and range of high-end lidars. For autonomous vehicle, robotics, industrial automation, and safety monitoring applications, having high-resolution, real-time 3D information will elevate the safety, reliability, and ODD of your application. Whether it’s identifying a moving hazard on a job site or airport tarmac, debris on a railway, or tracking assets in a warehouse, having high-density, ultra-precise pointclouds matters. 💡 For example: At 150m, NODAR Hammerhead receives 1,000 valid 3D data points on a standing mannequin while a high-end lidar returns 12 points. That’s not just a number—it’s a game-changing improvement in performance that will have a direct impact on safety. 🔍 See for yourself: The attached GIF showcases how Hammerhead outperforms LiDAR in data richness and detail. 🎯 Looking to accelerate your next project? The Hammerhead Developer Kit 2.0 includes everything you need—hardware, software, and support—to get started fast. 👉 Want to know more? Fill out this form to get your hands on one: https://lnkd.in/gnfsWE2Q

What’s Next for AVs Under the Trump Administration? The incoming Trump administration is reportedly laying the groundwork for a federal regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles. With details still emerging, this could mark a turning point for the industry. What does this mean for the future of AV development and deployment? In this article by Jordyn Grzelewski, our COO, Brad Rosen, shares his perspective on how a unified federal framework could accelerate progress by addressing key technical and regulatory hurdles—while emphasizing the importance of balancing innovation with safety. Check out the full piece: https://lnkd.in/gr8yxN9J #AutonomousVehicles #Innovation Tech Brew

🌟 Exciting News from NODAR! The next generation of our Hammerhead Developer Kit (HDK 2.0) is on the way! Faster, more cost-effective, and ruggedized for demanding environments, HDK 2.0 will begin shipping in Q1 2025. HDK 2.0 is a cutting-edge 3D sensing solution designed for perception engineers to evaluate and test NODAR’s advanced wide-baseline stereo vision system. Complete with cameras, an ECU, cabling, APIs, documentation, and support, it delivers ultra-long-range, high-resolution pointclouds out of the box. Applications? From autonomous vehicles to safety monitoring and beyond, HDK 2.0 offers a compelling alternative to high-resolution LiDAR, delivering precise 3D data for a variety of use cases. ➡️ Sign up now to be among the first! https://lnkd.in/gb6br5cS 🎁 A 10% discount will be available for the first 20 registrants. 📣 Keep an eye out for more updates as we approach the official launch!

🚗 The Next Step in Automotive Innovation – But at What Cost to Safety? Tesla’s robotaxi unveiling marks a bold leap forward in automotive innovation, capturing the industry's attention. However, as our COO, Brad Rosen highlights, safety remains a critical concern. Musk's stance against #lidar - an expensive 3D sensor relied upon by many for redundancy in the robotaxi space - raises questions. Tesla's use of end-to-end learning is effective for most scenarios. But Tesla’s FSD chip has limited capabilities, and the system as a whole falls short in many situations. Brad points out an important issue: Humans rely on our powerful brains to process visual input and other sensory data, enabling instant analysis and reaction to new situations. Tesla’s ultra-powerful FSD chip cannot match the human brain's adaptability in complex or unfamiliar driving scenarios. https://lnkd.in/gzTsgdka At NODAR, we are committed to advancing 3D vision solutions that ensure safe and reliable operation of driverless vehicles. 🔍 Watch our video to see how NODAR Hammerhead performs under critical safety tests compared to Tesla's FSD

📢 NODAR News! We’re excited to announce the upcoming release of the Hammerhead Developer Kit 2.0 (HDK 2.0). Ruggedized and designed to be more compact, faster and lower cost, HDK 2.0 will ship in Q1 2025. HDK 2.0 is a cutting-edge 3D sensing solution designed for perception engineers to evaluate and test NODAR’s wide-baseline advanced stereo vision system. Complete with cameras, ECU, cabling, API, documentation and support, HDK 2.0 provides full access to NODAR Hammerhead’s ultra long-range, high resolution pointclouds out of the box. NODAR Hammerhead is an ideal 3D sensing solution for applications for which high resolution lidar would be considered, from autonomous vehicles to safety monitoring and surveillance. If precise, high-fidelity 3D information is required, NODAR’s products - all based on Hammerhead technology - should be considered. ➡️ Be among the first to explore HDK 2.0! 🎉The first 20 registrants will receive a 10% discount on their order 📅 Stay tuned for updates as we approach the official launch. https://lnkd.in/g7vWx4P2

Imagine driving on a busy highway, surrounded by vehicles, knowing that your car can “see” everything around you, even better and earlier than you can, like superhuman vision. NODAR Hammerhead leverages our latest object detection module, GridDetect, to provide a real-time bird’s eye view (BEV) of the environment. In a recent test, we captured and visualize this scene multiple ways: 🔹RGB view: A clear, real-time video of the road. 🔹Color-coded depth map: Pinpointing object distances—red for close, blue for far. 🔹High-res 3D point clouds: Like LiDAR, but with 2-4x the range, 30x the resolution, and 5x lower cost. 🔹GridDetect BEV: Highlighting and tracking all obstacles in real time. How GridDetect and Hammerhead Advanced Stereo Vision Outperform LiDAR: ✅ Extended Range: Detect objects up to 1,000 meters. ✅ Ultra High-Resolution 3D Maps: More points on each object, enabling smaller objects to be tracked at much longer range ✅ Fewer false positives, better reliability, and lower cost ✅ Superior in low visibility: Delivers more accurate 3D mapping even in heavy rain, dense fog, and at night. Why does this matter? The short answer: SAFETY. GridDetect uses Hammerhead 3D stereo vision to detect and track objects from far away, differentiating between static and dynamic obstacles, predicting trajectories, and performing reliably even in heavy rain, fog, or low light. It also complies with the strict UN-R157 ALKS safety regulations for autonomous driving. 🔍 Want to see it in action? Watch our video and discover how GridDetect is setting a new standard for long-range, cost-effective highway safety. #AutonomousDriving #VehicleSafety #3DVision

🚂 On October 16th, a derailment near Namborn, Germany, occurred when a train struck a large rock on the tracks. This is just one of many incidents happening globally each year—most with significant safety and financial consequences. This event highlights a critical challenge for the rail industry: the inability of train engineers and current sensor systems to detect unexpected obstacles far enough away to enable safe stops. Imagine if automated trains could reliably spot objects from a kilometer away—enabling safe, controlled stops even in the face of life-threatening hazards. This is where NODAR’s 3D vision system, #RailView, steps in. Built around our long-range vision technology, #RailView detects obstacles like rocks, animals, trees, and debris well in advance, giving trains the time and distance they need to react safely. With #RailView, hundreds of collisions every year can be avoided, saving lives and dollars. 🌐 Read more about the Namborn accident: https://lnkd.in/gVEcD_7Z 💡 Discover how NODAR’s technology is making railways safer: https://lnkd.in/g6DmvZed  #RailSafety #3DVision #AutomatedTrains #TransportationTech

🌾 How Autonomous Farming is Transforming Profitability in Agriculture 🚜 NODAR's advanced 3D vision system enables farmers to run machinery 24/7, even in hard conditions such as dust, rain, and low light—boosting productivity by 20%, cutting operational costs, and reducing the need for manual labor, all while improving efficiency. Curious to learn more? Dive into our latest blog from COO Brad Rosen for deeper insights into how these advancements are shaping the future of farming. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gurMnwyf #AutonomousFarming #AgTech #Innovation

📢 In a recent article about Tesla’s release of its fully autonomous robotaxi, called Cybercab, Brad Rosen, COO of NODAR, shared key insights on Tesla’s approach to autonomy. Brad addresses whether Tesla’s camera-only approach to their FSD system is sufficiently safe for a driverless taxi (or bus). Can Tesla’s FSD chip and AI software handle the myriad edge cases humans are able to navigate? Brad feels no, because the Tesla FSD chip is significantly underpowered as compared with a human brain. Read more on Microsoft ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gTvnFbkh At NODAR, we believe that for truly safe driverless operation, multiple redundant 3D sensing modalities are required. Radar and stereo vision (cameras) are complementary, and on a robotaxi platform, lidar makes sense as well. NODAR’s #Hammerhead 3D vision system provides reliable, fast, predictable, high-resolution 3D information in most driving conditions. The system works by comparing images taken from two independently mounted cameras and calculating the shift between them, providing precise depth measurements for every pixel in the scene and delivering highly accurate real-time depth perception.  This level of precision supports full autonomy, enabling vehicles to safely navigate complex environments without requiring human attention at all times 🚗💡 For humans to fully depend on autonomous vehicles, the autonomous systems that guide them must be able to handle most edge cases reliably, and in fact, even better than a human can. NODAR Hammerhead offers the precision and reliability to satisfy this critical safety demand. #AutonomousVehicles #3DVision #Robotaxi #SelfDriving