⁍ German auto supplier Continental AG on Tuesday agreed to acquire a minority stake in California lidar startup AEye.

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⁍ Lidar technology uses light-based sensors to generate a three-dimensional view of the road.

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⁍ ‘This puts us in a strong position to cover the full vehicle environment with state-of-the-art lidar sensor technology,’ said Frank Petznick, head of Continental’s advanced driver assistance systems business unit.

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– German auto supplier Continental on Tuesday agreed to acquire a minority stake in California lidar startup AEye to use the relatively young technology in autonomous passenger and commercial vehicles, reports Reuters. Lidar technology uses light-based sensors to generate a three-dimensional view of the road. Continental said both companies are jointly developing a ‘high-performance long-range’ lidar sensor based on AEye’s patents that will complement the auto supplier’s existing short-range lidar technology scheduled for series production later this year. “This puts us in a strong position to cover the full vehicle environment with state-of-the-art lidar sensor technology and to facilitate automated driving at SAE levels 3 or higher in both passenger and commercial vehicle applications,” said Frank Petznick, head of Continental’s advanced driver assistance systems business unit.