Ground-penetrating radar offers new sensor modality for vehicles (.PDF Download)
Sensors are key components for autonomous vehicles as well as vehicles with advanced driver-assistance systems. As I commented in my November 2019,1 the typical radar, lidar, and vision sensors may not be enough, and ground-penetrating radar offers an intriguing alternative.
WaveSense, founded in 2017, describes itself as the first company to offer self-driving vehicle navigation based on ground-penetrating radar at commercial scale. The company is the worldwide exclusive licensee of IP generated at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where the technology was developed for military applications and deployed in Afghanistan in 2013. The technology allowed 9-ton military vehicles to stay on previously mapped routes despite unmarked lanes and poor visibility from sand and dust.