Safety First: How Perception Radar Supports Road Safety Long Before Full Autonomy

Transforming Driving Safety: Key Use Cases for Perception Radar

Although the automotive industry seems to be moving towards a future of autonomous vehicles, safety must remain its highest priority. According to the American National Safety Council, "more than 46,000 people lost their lives in a preventable traffic crash" in 2023 and the mileage death rate of that same year increased nearly 22% over pre-pandemic 2019. Sure, autonomous driving holds the promise of safer roads, but based on the story told by these statistics and more, the automotive industry simply cannot afford to wait until then.

Even - perhaps especially - while human driving is still required, technology can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and mitigate potential harm to drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. By prioritizing safety from the beginning of the design process, companies demonstrate their commitment to responsible innovation and reinforce consumer trust, thus ensuring a smoother transition as technology develops. Ultimately, prioritizing safety across all autonomy levels paves the way for a more secure and efficient transportation future for everyone.

Perception Radar offers a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the surrounding environment in comparison to traditional radar systems. As a result, it offers unique benefits - particularly in challenging driving scenarios - that immediately and dramatically improve safety and reliability. Whether it's ensuring safe lane changes or early pedestrian detection, Perception Radar proves to be a valuable asset in the pursuit of enhanced safety on the roads.

Highway Driver Assist

When it comes to highway driving, where everything happens at high speed, every second counts. Perception imaging radar offers safety-boosting data that can significantly improve the driving experience on highways by delivering more data earlier. Perception Radar offers reliable high resolution data that can complement the vision sensors data in their weak spots - in long range, in specific lighting conditions and in challenging weather conditions.

Lost Cargo Detection

The high speed of highway driving presents challenges for vehicle safety systems. One critical concern is the early detection of lost cargo, such as small object fully or partially blocking a lane on the road. Cameras, while essential for many driving conditions, perform best at short-range but have limitations in long-range detection, which can be critical for avoiding collisions with unexpected obstacles. By combining high sensitivity, high dynamic range, and exceptional resolution in both azimuth and elevation, Arbe's Perception Radar can detect small objects at long distances (>150 meter), even in the presence of larger, more reflective objects like vehicles or guardrails. This advanced capability empowers vehicles to make informed decisions about potential hazards, such as determining whether an object can be driven over (e.g. sewer cap) or must be avoided. This unique radar capability enables highway autonomous driving at high speeds, as the early detection of lost cargo can enable the vehicle to drive as fast as 130kmh, compared to the current limited feature availability at maximum speeds of 60 kmh.

Autonomous Emergency Braking

Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems rely on accurate and timely object detection to prevent or mitigate collisions. Arbe's Perception Radar excels in this area by providing reliable detections in all weather and lighting conditions with zero latency. This crucial information empowers AEB systems to make informed decisions and execute necessary braking maneuvers. The radar's high-resolution, long-range capabilities enable early identification of potential hazards, even in challenging driving environments. Moreover, the system's exceptional reliability is essential for preventing both collisions and false alarms (phantom braking). By striking a balance between sensitivity and reliability, Arbe's Perception Radar enhances the overall effectiveness of AEB systems, significantly improving road safety.

Autonomous Emergency Steering

In high-speed emergencies, where immediate braking may be impossible, Autonomous Emergency Steering (AES) demands rapid decision-making. Arbe's Perception Radar provides the critical long-range, high-resolution data necessary for AES both to detect oncoming threats and to effectively assess and anticipate lane availability. By accurately detecting potential obstacles, such as motorcycles, at significant distances and providing precise object position and velocity information around the entire vehicle, Arbe's radar empowers vehicles to safely execute evasive maneuvers. This technology significantly reduces the risk of collisions in hazardous driving conditions.

Pedestrian Detection

Protecting pedestrians is a primary concern in modern automotive safety. Detecting pedestrians at long distances, especially in challenging conditions like darkness or adverse weather, is critical for preventing accidents. Arbe's Perception Radar addresses this challenge through its exceptional sensitivity and dynamic range, enabling the system to identify pedestrians at greater distances compared to traditional radar systems. Early pedestrian detection empowers vehicles to execute safe path planning maneuvers, safeguarding both pedestrians and vehicle occupants. By providing vital information about pedestrian location and movement, Arbe's Perception Radar significantly enhances overall road safety.

Safe Driving Through Tunnels and Under Bridges

Safely navigating through tunnels and under bridges poses unique challenges for autonomous vehicles due to varying - and rapidly changing - lighting conditions and limited visibility. Traditional sensors like cameras often struggle in these environments, potentially leading to safety risks. Arbe's Perception Radar addresses both of these issues. By combining high sensitivity and dynamic range, the radar effectively overcomes the light-sensitivity limitations of cameras when entering or exiting tunnels. Additionally, the radar's exceptional resolution in both azimuth and elevation is crucial for safely navigating under bridges. Further, Arbe's Radar can reliably detect and classify objects from a distance, such as vehicles or motorcycles that may be obstructing the roadway under the bridge or overpass. Finally, the radar's high-resolution point cloud data supports accurate assessment of the available driving space, allowing the vehicle to safely navigate through the underpass without unnecessary braking or swerving.

Conclusion

In addition to the use cases explored above, Perception Radar improves or enables countless others. From parking assistance to blind spot detection to cross traffic alerts, the unique benefits of Perception Radar become evident when examining use cases specific to highway and urban driving, where they enhance safety, efficiency, and convenience on the roads. While Perception Radar plays a crucial role in creating a future where self-driving vehicles navigate highways and urban areas with confidence and precision, their contribution to ADAS and L2+ features are available today and can be used to enhance safety of ADAS and L2+.

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This blog contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "may," "should," "strategy," "future," "will," "project," "potential" and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the risk and uncertainties resulting from the October 7th attack upon Israel, conflicts and potential conflicts involving Israel and the effect of the reaction to the war against Hamas on Israeli companies, particularly high tech companies as well as market acceptance of Arbe's radar processor and Arbe's radar processor performing in the manner which Arbe anticipates, and the risk and uncertainties described in "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," "Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" and "Item 3. Key Information - Risk Factors" Arbe's Annual Report on Form 20-F/A for the year ended December 31, 2023, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2024 as well as other documents filed by Arbe with the SEC. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date they were made, and Arbe does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made except as required by law or applicable regulation. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, Arbe's website or any other website or social media is expressly not incorporated by reference into and is not a part of this blog.

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