Q&A: Aptiv PULSE Sensor – A New Take on Perception
OEMs continuously balance sensor cost, vehicle safety and streamlined installation. To meet those requirements, Aptiv created the Aptiv PULSE (Parking, Urban, Localization and Surround Enhancement) Sensor, an innovative sensing device that integrates a surround-view camera with an ultra-short-range radar in a compact, ice-cube-size package. In this Q&A, Gabor Vinci, Ph.D., Aptiv’s head of business development for Active Safety and “the father of PULSE,” discusses this new perception sensor that provides a cost-effective way to achieve more precise parking and low-speed maneuvering, as well as heightened highway awareness.
What is the Aptiv PULSE Sensor?
PULSE is a surround-view camera and a miniaturized radar integrated into the same housing. It can be packaged in the same installation positions as a surround-view camera. The important difference is that in addition to having an optical path that gives you an image, it allows you to perceive the environment with radar, so you have two sensing modalities in one compact housing in the same location in the vehicle. There’s no need to search for additional packaging spaces in the vehicle.
What makes PULSE valuable for OEMs?
PULSE can help OEMs create a better, more reliable system that is also cost optimized. We estimate that PULSE will help to reduce the overall cost at the vehicle system level by nearly 15 percent.
You can use the same single physical connection that already exists for the camera so the wiring is shared. The video stream and radar data are serialized into a single link and sent to a central compute unit — a central vehicle controller or domain controller, for example — which then deserializes and processes the two streams. This layout allows the customer to reduce complexity and cost by reducing the wiring and the number of sensors while also being able to increase perception quality and reliability.
Can PULSE be used in entry-level vehicle models, where we don’t typically see surround-sensing systems, or is it only for premium vehicles?
It can be used for both premium and entry-level systems. Rear-facing cameras are mandatory for the largest markets around the globe. You need to have a visual device, plus a cable, installed in every single car that you sell. But you can place PULSE and get rid of all the ultrasonic sensors in the back of the vehicle.
For the front, if there isn’t already a parking camera, you could introduce PULSE to give the driver a front visual aid as an additional feature. This adds the cost of processing and transmitting a video stream, and it isn’t mandated, but it gives an OEM the option to offer additional value for the customer. It is up to the OEM to decide whether they want to offer a value-add for the brand and accept additional data cost in the vehicle.
Having said that, I would call it a nice feature for the final customer. You have multiple options because you do not need 100 percent, 360-degree sensing. It’s something that should be discussed platform by platform, depending on the OEM’s scaling strategy.
Can PULSE be integrated with an existing system?
Yes, but there are prerequisites. There must be a deserializer that is compatible with the serialization protocol of the device. There also has to be enough compute and memory allocated on the compute device to perform the post-processing required by PULSE. If those prerequisites are there, then there is no issue in integrating PULSE into an ECU [electronic control unit] that has been created by someone else.
If Aptiv delivers the compute unit we can guarantee compatibility, and that the software is allocated with enough memory and adequate throughput.
What use cases would PULSE support? How many sensors would you need for those scenarios?
It depends on what you want to do. For example, if you want to get rid of the current parking systems and enhance the capabilities, you need one sensor in the back and one sensor in the front, and then you can get rid of a 12-channel ultrasonic system. This would allow you to maneuver safely and reliably in a complex environment.
It is very rare for a car to have sensors on the sides, which means there is no real-time tracking of any object that comes close to the doors of a vehicle. Typically, the tracking systems remember what the sensors have seen before and extrapolate that movement. In contrast, if you include PULSE on the side of the vehicle, you could have that capability, completing the 360-degree coverage. Even in poor-visibility conditions, you’d be able to sense obstacles right next to the car. That would be the ultimate real-time solution that allows you to create safer features for maneuvering in urban environments.
It also allows you to create more safety features for driving. Say, for example, that you are in a dense traffic jam and there’s a motorbike driving close to you. The bike might be in your blind spot. PULSE could reliably detect that area and help you avoid an accident.
Will PULSE be a single product for global usage, or will there be different flavors for various regions?
It’s a sensor system that is envisioned to work in the upper ultrawide frequency band, between 76 GHz and 81 GHz, so it can be operated in Europe and North America. The main mode of operation will be 76 GHz to 79 GHz, which provides excellent resolution and also allows the system to be operated in China as well as Korea. Japan is coming soon. We’ve got the largest markets in the world covered.