Velodyne Lidar Experts to Address Perception Breakthroughs for Autonomous Vehicles at IDTechEx

Anand Gopalan, CTO, and Stephen Nestinger, Director of Mechanical Engineering, to Explore Lidars Role in Powering True Autonomy

The worlds largest event on emerging technologies, IDTechEx Show!, will feature presentations from two senior Velodyne Lidar, Inc. experts who will address the future of lidar technology. The discussions will focus on how lidar will enable advanced vehicle safety and performance for autonomous vehicles. More than 3,500 people from a wide range of disciplines, from end-user executives to manufacturers and system integrators, are expected to attend the event at the Santa Clara (Calif.) Convention Center on Nov. 14-15.


Velodyne Lidars Anand Gopalan, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Stephen Nestinger, Ph.D., Director of Mechanical Engineering, will lead conference sessions about the levels of lidar sensor performance and reliability required for autonomous vehicles to operate safely. Gopalan and Nestinger will review how Velodynes proven product line of lidar sensors enable autonomy and improve safety in lower-speed urban environments and at highway speeds. Additional discussion points will focus on Velodyne‘s continued status as the industry leader in the design and manufacture of lidar sensors, the essential components of self-driving cars. The sessions will also outline the companys commitment to inventing and refining new technologies.

How Lidar is Shaping Our Autonomous Future

IDTechEx Show! attendees will hear Gopalan discuss lidars role and importance in autonomous perception. The session will also address various misconceptions about the current state of lidar technology and its future outlook.

"As the leader in lidar technology, Velodyne has a unique, bird's-eye view on where the autonomous mobility industry is headed in terms of the hardware requirements for perception. This session will explore why lidar is needed for level 4 and level 5 autonomous vehicles, and how lidar can vastly enhance the performance of level 2+ advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). It will also examine what lidar will and wont be able to do in the future as the technology matures," said Gopalan.

Gopalans session, titled "The Essential Role of Lidar Technology in Shaping Our Autonomous Future," takes place on Nov. 15, from 8:40 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in Grand Ballroom C.

At Velodyne Lidar, Gopalan is responsible for the advanced product and technology developments that are powering the companys latest lidar products. He is a seasoned technology executive with experience building and leading worldwide engineering organizations for the development of products in consumer, networking, and enterprise domains.

Providing Precise Situational Awareness in a Range of Applications

Nestinger will discuss how Velodynes revolutionary sensing portfolio provides precise situational awareness for applications ranging from forest canopy surveying to autonomous vehicles and embeddable ADAS. The session will also address technological development towards the integration of additional sensing modalities that will enhance perception and save lives.

Nestingers session, titled "Illuminating the Perception Horizon with Multi-Modality 3D Lidar," takes place on Nov. 14, from 5:40 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in Grand Ballroom F.

Nestinger joined Velodyne Lidar in 2014 and has contributed to the design, development, and production of Velodynes world renowned lidar sensors. Before joining Velodyne Lidar, he was an Assistant Professor in the mechanical engineering department and robotics engineering program at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

About Velodyne Lidar

Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, Velodyne is a technology company known worldwide for its real-time 3D lidar computing and software platforms. The company evolved after founder David Hall invented the HDL-64 Solid-State Hybrid lidar sensor in 2005. Since then, Velodyne Lidar, Inc. emerged as the unmatched market leader of real-time 3D vision systems used in a variety of commercial applications including autonomous vehicles, vehicle safety systems, mobile mapping, aerial mapping, and security. Its products range from the high-performance, surround view Ultra-Puck™ VLP-32, classic HDL-32/64 and cost-effective VLP-16, the new VLS-128, to the upcoming, hidden Velarray™. Velodynes rich suite of perception software and algorithms are the key enablers of its perception systems. Velodyne supports customers from offices in San Jose, Detroit, Frankfurt, and Beijing. For more information, visit http://www.velodynelidar.com.

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