LG innotek CEO moon hyuksoo aims to be the top in ADAS sensing by using ‘High Performance LiDAR

LG Innotek rolled up its sleeves to aim for the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) LiDAR market with its high performance LiDAR product line-up and business capabilities at the forefront.

On the 9th, LG Innotek (CEO Moon Hyuksoo) announced that they developed a ‘high-performance LiDAR’ by tripling its detection range in worsening weather conditions.

LiDAR is a sensing component that detects the three-dimensionality of a target and measures the distance by calculating the time it takes for an infrared ray to return after hitting an object. If this product is applied, the 3D information of an object as well as the distance from a vehicle to an object can be measured. Especially, as the autonomous driving stage becomes more advanced, the number of LiDARs needed per vehicle has quadrupled. Therefore, LiDAR is attracting attention as a key component of ADAS.

Above all, LiDAR can accurately identify situations that even cameras and RADAR cannot detect due to technical limitations. Thus, it is praised as having the highest performance among sensing components for vehicles. In the case of a camera, it is not easy to detect objects in dark places. While RADAR is less affected by surrounding factors like weather, it is difficult to identify the size and shape of obstacles due to its lower resolution compared to LiDAR.

In comparison, LiDAR has strength in its ability to detect small distant objects in case of sudden changes lighting conditions, such as when entering a tunnel or driving at night without streetlights, thanks to its high resolution.

Despite its superior performance, LiDAR has a characteristic of reduced detection distance due to the scattering of light in worsening weather conditions such as snow and fog. LG Innotek developed a ‘high-performance LiDAR’ using its independent technology to overcome such limitations.

LG Innotek’s ‘high-performance LiDAR’ can detect even objects up to 250 m away. Its detection performance has tripled compared to existing products, especially in worsening weather conditions. This is the highest level in the industry.

For instance, LG Innotek’s ‘high performance LiDAR’ can accurately detect the movement of a person 45m away when there is extreme fog with a visible distance of 2m. On the other hand, existing products can only detect movement 15m ahead in the same situation.

If the detection range increases, a vehicle can be driven at a faster speed since the braking distance can be reduced. An autonomous driving vehicle equipped with existing products can be driven up to 50km/h in fog with a visible distance of 2m, whereas an autonomous driving vehicle equipped with LG Innotek’s ‘high-performance LiDAR’ can be driven up to 90km/h.

To achieve this performance, LG Innotek applied shortwave infrared rays instead of near-infrared rays used in conventional LiDARs. Shortwave infrared rays are less affected by light scattering due to their longer wavelength compared to near-infrared rays.

Not only that, if LG Innotek’s ‘high-performance LiDAR’ is applied, an obstacle with low reflectivity such as pedestrians wearing dark clothes or tires can be seen clearly. It can achieve high resolution consistently from any viewing angle, without being limited to a specific angle, as the data collected through the sensor can be up to 10 times more than existing products.

LG Innotek has continued to secure key capabilities for the LiDAR business since 2015 and is fully prepared to target the market.

LG Innotek has a various product line-up that can be tailored to customers’ needs.

The company offers a variety of products, including ‘short-distance fixed LiDAR’ optimized for high-resolution detection in complex city driving conditions with numerous obstacles, ‘mid-range fixed LiDAR’ capable of detecting objects up to 10~20m a certain distance on conventional roads, and 50~80m ‘high-performance LiDAR rotating 360 degrees’ designed for autonomous driving stage 4~5, providing both long-range and mid-range detection simultaneously to ensure high safety standards.

Furthermore, it has the advantage of securing various patents related to LiDAR. Last year, LG Innotek acquired 77 US patents related to LiDAR from ‘Argo AI,’ an autonomous driving startup company specializing in LiDAR. Hence, LG Innotek has approximately 300 patents related to LiDAR, and is able to establish an extensive patent portfolio covering areas such as substrates, optics, and instruments.

LG Innotek plans to actively target the market with its optical design and engineering capabilities accumulated as the no.1 company in the global smartphone camera module market, precision assembly technology with high yield, rich mass production experience through its electronic parts business, and synergy with existing electronics parts at the forefront. Currently, LG Innotek is focusing on promotions for global corporations related to autonomous driving.

It is also actively mass producing products. The company plans to supply ‘short-range and mid-range fixed LiDARs’ to its domestic and North American customers. For ‘High-performance rotating LiDAR,’ the company is in discussion with customers with a target to mass produce them by 2026.

CEO Moon Hyuksoo said, “We will expand our No.1 DNA accumulated in smartphone camera modules to ‘sensing solutions for vehicles’ and create a differentiated customer value,” and added, “We will foster the ADAS sensing solution business with camera modules, LiDAR and RADAR at the forefront to become a global No.1 company in this area.”

Meanwhile, according to Yole Intelligence, a global market survey company, the size of the autonomous driving LiDAR market is expected to grow explosively from 2.1 billion USD in 2025 to 11.2 billion USD by 2030. As the autonomous driving stage becomes increasingly advanced, the demand for LiDAR is expected to grow rapidly and reach 17.5 billion USD by 2032.