Cepton has introduced its new lidar, the Vista-X120 Plus—the slimmest software definable, top-end automotive lidar for real-time adaptive 3D perception. Cepton says that the Vista-X120 Plus advances its vision for mass-market lidar adoption.

Expanding on Cepton’s commercially scalable Vista-X90 lidar, which will be deployed in the company’s ADAS lidar series production program, the Vista-X120 Plus offers higher performance and embeddability: a 500% increase in data rate, 30° wider field of view, more than 20% reduction in size and 50% reduction in height.

Featuring a software definable region of interest (ROI), the Vista-X120 Plus enables higher dynamic perception capabilities. Its tunable central field of view with increased angular resolution enables higher accuracy in the detection and classification of key objects in a given driving scenario.

The ROI is configurable in real time in both horizonal and vertical directions, unlocking a higher level of intelligence and efficiency, while making the lidar sensor versatile and adaptive to various use cases—same hardware, flexible adoption.

With a production size of 140 (W) x 30 (H) x 150 (D) mm, the Vista-X120 Plus offers a combination of slimness, compactness and embeddability. Its footprint is ~50% slimmer and smaller than the competition, enabling greater OEM integration and placement options without disrupting vehicle appearance.

The Vista-X120 Plus’ upgraded scanning mechanism enables extremely dense point clouds, while simplifying software algorithms for efficient sensor calibration and dynamic perception. Our proprietary ASIC chip enables optimal signal processing to further maximize lidar efficiency and performance. The tunable ROI helps the vehicle perception better focus on potential hazards across different driving scenarios.

In spite of its significantly elevated performance and flexibility, the Vista-X120 Plus consumes less than 18 W of power, which is exceptional for long-range lidars and will be important for integration into electric vehicles.

—Cepton CTO and Co-Founder Dr Mark McCord

At its <18 W power consumption, Vista-X120 Plus offers a 200 m range at 10% reflectivity, angular resolutions of 0.05° (ROI) and 0.1° (non-ROI), a 120° x 25° field of view and a data rate of over 6 million points per second.

With a target price point below $500 for volume production, the automotive-grade Vista-X120 Plus is positioned for mass-market deployment. Building upon Cepton’s patented MMT technology, it features a precision opto-mechanical architecture with infinite mechanical life to maximize durability and reliability for automotive use.