Coining a Phrase: LoC for LiDAR-on-Chip

I feel I have missed out on so many chances to coin a phrase for a new technical idea. “AJAX Programming”, was one of many techniques that my team and I were using in the mid ’90’s before anyone had terms to describe it. Plenty of people were doing this, I am sure, but back then the cost of sharing ideas was higher, there were no blogs, there was no Google to find the blogs, and we were all too busy creating ideas to solve immediate problems to spend time sharing them.

Now, the cost of sharing is lower, so…

“RoC” has been used to describe Uhnder’s RADAR-on-chip.

Voyant is creating a “LoC”, or “LiDAR-on-Chip,” a term I believe I am referencing here for the first time in this context to a specific product.

Aeva has received attention for their “LiDAR on a chip”, but Aeva’s chip is not a complete LiDAR system on a chip. Aeva’s chip contains only some of the components of a LiDAR system. Aeva uses additional components for beam steering and other vital functions. Aeva’s LiDAR solution, innovative as it might be, remains a free-space optical system packaged in a shoebox, just like the many other LiDAR systems out there.

Voyant is working towards a true LoC, a power-in, point-cloud-out imaging sensor packaged as a single chip.

Our first product will be a small, inexpensive power-in, point-cloud-out device the size of an ice cube. An ice-cube sized product, even one with an on-chip laser source, receiver, and beam steering is still not a LoC, but our Sparrow design offers a faster time-to-market for Voyant’s FMCW imaging LiDAR technology.

Our LoC will come soon enough!

Contact us for spec sheets, scheduling, and pricing.