TuSimple and AEye Partner to Deploy Long-Range LiDAR for Autonomous Trucking

AEye’s Adaptive, High-Performance LiDAR Helps Heavy-Duty Trucks See Farther, Detect Objects Sooner - Advancing Middle-Mile Logistics

AEye, Inc. (“AEye”), the global leader in adaptive, high-performance LiDAR solutions, today announced a development partnership with global self-driving technology company, TuSimple. TuSimple is working with VW’s TRATON Group to develop a commercial-ready fully autonomous system for heavy-duty trucks, and is co-developing Level 4 self-driving trucks with Navistar, targeting production in 2024. TuSimple selected AEye as a development partner based on AEye LiDAR’s extreme long-range performance, impressive weather capabilities, and its ability to address the most challenging autonomous trucking situations.

The partially and fully autonomous truck market is expected to reach approximately $88 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of greater than 10% between 2020 and 2027, according to data from Acumen Research and Consulting.

“TuSimple has the world’s most advanced autonomous driving system, with the industry’s best long-range perception,” said Chuck Price, Chief Product Officer at TuSimple. “AEye’s adaptive LiDAR complements our solution, with its ultra-long range, high performance enabling object acquisition and avoidance capabilities at highway speeds that are imperative for safe autonomous trucking implementations. AEye’s software-configurable hardware enables us to utilize a single sensor for both low speed, wide Field-of-View cut-ins and high speed, long-range, small object detection - flexibility that is incredibly powerful for addressing the wide scope of trucking corner cases.”

AEye LiDAR enables the highest levels of safety for all vehicles - including heavy-duty trucks. Its 1000 meter range, as well as its resolution and speed, have been independently verified as industry-leading by automated vehicle technology evaluator, VSI Labs. AEye’s LiDAR delivers more than twice the range and over two times the resolution of any long-range LiDAR. Its automotive-grade reliability, solid-state MEMS scanner performance, and its unique ability, via the system’s 1550nm adaptive LiDAR, to effectively scan through rain and other obscurants, makes it ideal for trucking. Additionally, it is the only software-configurable LiDAR, enabling customers to use the same LiDAR hardware optimized for each application, ranging from complex merging to hub-to-hub highway automation.

“We are pleased to partner with TuSimple in advancing reliable highway autonomy for long-haul trucks,” said Blair LaCorte, CEO at AEye. “AEye’s high performance LiDAR system enables detection of road debris, pedestrians, vehicles, and more at extremely long ranges, with software-configurable control that enables TuSimple’s full stack to navigate complex environments at speed. We look forward to a rich partnership with TuSimple, deploying the next generation of autonomous solutions for the trucking industry.”

AEye’s iDAR™ is a proprietary, intelligent, low-cost LiDAR that uses adaptive sensing to deliver industry-leading performance and address the most difficult challenges facing autonomous driving while meeting automotive functional safety requirements. Traditional sensing systems passively collect data. AEye’s adaptive LiDAR scans the entire scene, while intelligently focusing on what matters in order to enable safer, smarter, and faster decisions in complex scenarios. As a result, AEye’s LiDAR uniquely enables higher levels of autonomous functionality (SAE L2-L5) at the optimal performance, power, and price.

AEye will host a virtual investor day on Friday, July 16, and remains on track to complete its previously announced business combination agreement with CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III (Nasdaq: CFAC) (“CF III”), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, in the third quarter of 2021. The business combination is expected to provide up to $455 million in gross proceeds. The combined company is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol, “LIDR”. For more information, visit https://aeyeinvestorday.com/.

About AEye

AEye is the premier provider of high-performance, adaptive LiDAR systems for vehicle autonomy, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and robotic vision applications. AEye’s AI-enabled and software-definable iDAR™ (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) platform combines solid-state adaptive LiDAR, an optionally fused low-light HD camera, and integrated deterministic artificial intelligence to capture more intelligent information with less data, enabling faster, more accurate, and more reliable perception. The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and backed by world-renowned financial investors including Kleiner Perkins and Taiwania Capital, as well as GM Ventures, Continental AG, Hella Ventures, LG Electronics, Subaru-SBI, Pegasus Ventures (Aisin), Intel Capital, SK Hynix and Airbus Ventures.

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