LeddarTech introduces LiDAR simulation software to accelerate sensor development

This first release of LeddarEcho is a key accelerator for ongoing LiDAR development. Additional releases planned in 2022 will further enhance LeddarEcho with high-fidelity simulations and the modeling of various LiDAR components.

PADERBORN and QUEBEC CITY — LeddarTech®, a company providing ADAS and AD sensing technology, and dSPACE, one of the providers of simulation and validation solutions, announce the launch of LeddarEcho™ LiDAR Simulation Software for Tier-1 sensor and perception system developers. LeddarEcho uses the dSPACE sensor-realistic simulator AURELION™ to emulate the LiDAR sensor’s operation in a series of phases by providing an automotive front LiDAR sensor model for software-in-the-loop (SiL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) applications.

This simulation model results from the partnership between the two companies announced in December 2020 to jointly drive the development of LiDAR technologies by providing simulation tools and models to support and significantly accelerate LiDAR development.

Currently, sensing platform and perception system development requires the integration and calibration of the actual sensor hardware on a vehicle and the conventional data acquisition and annotation, which are expensive and time-consuming processes. With LeddarEcho LiDAR Simulation Software, customers will have the capability to simulate different sensor concepts and combinations and validate the sensor design requirements without the need to assemble the entire system.

“LeddarEcho was developed using the physics-based AURELION sensor simulation from dSPACE. The LiDAR front-end sensor model will enable our customers to efficiently develop, simulate, validate and optimize LeddarEngine-based LiDAR sensor designs using dSPACE SiL and HiL testing environments,” states Christopher Wiegand, Strategic Product Manager at dSPACE. “This validation includes physically accurate simulation of the LiDAR and the vehicle environment, including moving objects, such as vehicles and pedestrians, as well as the road and other static objects, such as traffic signs or curbs,” concludes Mr. Wiegand.

“Market growth in the coming years will continue at SAE levels 2 and 3 for ADAS and, before LeddarEcho, there were no solutions for simulating front LiDARs for these systems,” states Pierre Olivier, Chief Technology Officer at LeddarTech. “LeddarEcho is a highly valuable tool, developed in collaboration with dSPACE, a valued member of our Leddar™ Ecosystem, for LiDAR developers and LeddarTech customers. This tool will potentially save months of R&D for new systems by enabling simulations at the sensor or perception development levels without the need for actual hardware and data collection and annotation,” Mr. Olivier concludes.