Episode 96 | Enhancing ADAS Safety

Manju Hegde, CEO, Uhnder, joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss why 4D Digital Imaging Radar will enhance ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) safety. 

The conversation begins with Manju discussing why he gave a talk at the Univeristy of Michigan College of Engineering called; “When We Should Trust Self-Driving Cars” on July 28, 2016. The talk revolved around the topic of trust and the critical role it will play in the adoption of autonomous vehicles. 

Trust is important. Trust is in fact, critical. – Manju Hegde

Without trust, there will not be autonomous vehicles. Consumers have to trust that the autonomous vehicle will get them to and from their destination, safely and on-time. 

Trust is a thing that you have to earn slowly. It cannot be accelerated. – Manju Hegde

To build and maintain trust in autonomous vehicles, the proper exceptions have to be set. To properly set exceptions with the market and investors, Uhnder has focused on the ADAS market because as Manju says; “as a start-up revenue rules”. This philosophy was adapted and implemented because Uhnder is a semiconductor company which by definition is capital intensive. 

Radar which first got its start in World War II has traditionally been a capital intensive business, but it has been a business that has saved millions of lives around the world. Building upon the first radar systems which were produced in 1935 by Sir Robert Watson-Watt, Grayson asks Manju how radar has evolved since World War II. 

It’s the progress in electronics, because remember in the Second World War, the integrated circuit was not there yet. So that was a huge advance. Then the progress in communications, that’s more recent. I would say that from 1940’s to say the 1990’s, it was a tremendous increase in electronics. – Manju Hegde

Today, a majority of vehicles on the road have radar. Radar on vehicles increases safety due to their ability to detect objects on the road. The next evolution of radar is 4D Digital Imaging Radar. 4D Digital Imaging Radar has advantages over analog radar such as increased resolution.

The first vehicle that the Uhnder 4D Digital Imaging Radar will be available on will be the Fisker Ocean. Manju goes onto share the following about Henrik Fisker: 

He is kind of the like the Frank Lloyd Wright of automotive design. – Manju Hegde

As the market for 4D Digital Imaging Radar evolves, Manju shares his thoughts on how he sees the market maturing. 

Wrapping up the conversation, Manju highlights the benefits of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems).

We should have better ADAS right now. – Manju Hegde

Recorded on Friday, June 17, 2022

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