Caterpillar is to integrate Lidar laser sensor technology from Luminar into its next generation autonomous trucks, writes Nick Flaherty.

The Luminar Lidar technology will be introduced in the Cat Command trucks for hauling, initially targeted for quarry and aggregate operations. The off-highway truck will use two Iris Lidar with an integration system designed exclusively for Caterpillar.

Caterpillar has been using autonomous trucks on three continents that have travelled more than 334 million kilometres and autonomously moved more than 9.3 billion tonnes of material.

The Iris Lidar uses a 1550 nm fibre laser with a semi-solid-state 2-axis scanning mechanism with rotating mirrors. A custom Indium Phosphide sensor detects reflections at up to 250 m for small dark objects and 600 m for larger reflective objects.

Luminar has also developed its own application-specific chip for managing the point cloud data and a processor that runs its AI engine for object detection. This allows the two Lidar systems to link together to improve the accuracy beyond the current 1cm.

“We’ve invested in autonomy and automation for more than 30 years, and we’ve seen how it adds value for our customers in terms of safety, productivity and efficiency,” said Jaime Mineart, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Integrated Components and Solutions for Caterpillar.