Lidar Supplier Inks Deals With Two Autonomous Vehicle Developers

California lidar supplier Ouster is celebrating two major deals with leading self-driving companies.

The San Francisco-based firm has announced it has extended its arrangement to provide sensor systems to Michigan’s May Mobility.

And news of that agreement came just a matter of days after Ouster confirmed it had done a deal with Motional of Boston.

Under the arrangement, Ouster will provide May Mobility with more than 1,000 of its OS1 and Alpha Prime VLS-128 sensors through 2024 to meet demand for new autonomous vehicle (AVs) deployments from the Ann Arbor company across the globe.

Ouster – which merged with another lidar company, Velodyne, earlier this year – previously supplied hundreds of sensors to May Mobility for its commercial self-driving programs. May Mobility’s AVs are fitted with OS1 sensors for short-range and mid-range detection and one Alpha Prime unit for longer ranges. The Alpha Prime sensor provides real-time 3D data with a range of up to 984 feet and a 360-degree surround view for enhanced safety.

May Mobility has made decent headway in the AV space with several significant deployments, regularly partnering with transit agencies, communities and businesses. Earlier this year it unveiled the third generation of its autonomous driving system and recently launched an on-demand autonomous public transit service for residents of the Sun City retirement community in Arizona.

Related:Self-Driving Transit System Launches in Arizona Retirement Community

“We are rapidly growing our operations and technology and need partners that deliver high-performing, reliable and scalable products to be successful,” said Edwin Olson, May Mobility’s CEO. “With Ouster, and now Velodyne under its umbrella, we get a field-tested Lidar suite from one supplier, making it even easier to expand and deploy our growing fleet.”

The deal with Motional, which will last until 2026, will see the Alpha Prime sensors fitted to the company’s Hyundai IONIQ-based self-driving taxis which are operating in Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles.

“The Alpha Prime delivers the long-range, high-performance capabilities we need for our autonomous vehicle,” said Laura Major, chief technology officer at Motional. “Long-range lidar is an important part of Motional’s multi-modal sensor strategy, which includes over 30 sensors carefully integrated into the IONIQ 5 robotaxi design. This sensor suite provides 360-degree vision and enables safe fully driverless operation across diverse driving environments and conditions.”

Angus Pacala, Ouster’s CEO and co-founder, hailed the wins and said he anticipated more would follow. “The Alpha Prime is a powerful addition to our product portfolio, and one that we expect will continue to drive meaningful new business,” he claimed.