Velodyne LiDAR, a US-based company that provides LiDAR technology, has announced the completion of the combined $150m investment from Ford Motor Company and Baidu.

The new investment will help Velodyne to enhance its design and production of automotive LiDAR sensors, thereby acccelerating mass adoption in autonomous vehicle and ADAS applications.

In the past ten years, Velodyne has designed and developed four generations of hybrid solid-state LiDAR systems using its proprietary software and algorithms.

"We are determined to help improve the goal of safety for automotive vehicles as soon as possible, as well as empower the efficiency autonomous systems offer."

The algorithms and software interpret data collected from laser-based sensors for creating high resolution 3D digital images used for mapping, localisation, and object identification and collision avoidance.

The company claims that its LIDAR solutions are capable of producing 300K to 2.2 million data points per second with a range up to 200 meters at centimeter-level accuracy.

Velodyne LiDAR founder and CEO David Hall said: “LiDAR continues to prove itself as the critical sensor for safe autonomous vehicle operation.

“This investment will accelerate the cost reduction and scaling of Velodyne’s industry-leading LiDAR sensors, making them widely accessible and enabling mass deployment of fully autonomous vehicles.

“We are determined to help improve the goal of safety for automotive vehicles as soon as possible, as well as empower the efficiency autonomous systems offer.”

Velodyne anticipates an increase in LiDAR sensor deployments in autonomous vehicles and ADAS applications in the near future, and also expects an increased revenue growth.