AV companies and their Radar teams

Jul 26, 2020 10 Comments

Looking to gain insight into which AV companies are investing the most in their own novel radar tech. (Also looking for some referrals!) Is there a sense of which companies have the stronger radar teams?

Currently working as an ML engineer on mmWave radar systems in defense.

YOE: 5
TC: 135K
#auto #waymo #cruise #argoai #aptiv #tesla #zoox #nuro #lyft #uber #aurora #rivianautomotive #lucidmotors #sorryifididnttagyourcompanyidontknowallofthem

10

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
  1. TOP
  2. RECENT
  3. OLD
 TOP 10 Comments
  • New
    SadX45

    New

    SadX45
    Cruise and Aurora have in-house radar development. The rest use units from suppliers.
    Jul 28, 2020 0
  • Cruise
    cirnfociej

    Go to company page Cruise

    cirnfociej
    Cruise has some great radar. Wish I could share more but I’d talk with the team if you’re curious.
    Jul 26, 2020 1
  • Aurora
    TI-1000

    Go to company page Aurora

    TI-1000
    Not exactly radar (but FMCW lidar!). There may be relevant and exciting roles at Aurora related to the FirstLight lidar.

    https://medium.com/aurora-blog/aurora-debuts-firstlight-lidar-c8d850f0cbe7
    Jul 28, 2020 0
  • Standard use of Bosch and continental radar with custom software. Metawave gained traction so Cruise poached a bunch. Cruise acquired German radar manufacturer Astyx. Waymo and Tesla have more tenured radar teams whereas Cruise is about 1-2 years old. Ex-GM guy is running the show.
    Jul 27, 2020 0
  • New
    mNmF34

    New

    mNmF34
    It sounds like you want to work on interesting stuff rather than TC?

    The radar used in AVs is older tech because there are constraints on cost, reliability, manufacturability, existing tech they have, etc.
    Many companies will love to hire you. More TC but you'll be doing a similar job but with low quality data.
    Jul 28, 2020 3
    • OP
      Depends on the situation. For cars, short range FMCW might give you the best bang for your buck. In defense you’re battling stealth + R^4, getting jammed, searching a much larger area, and a whole host of other issues.

      I think he’s saying that AV radar problem/tech isn’t as interesting but has better TC. And to answer the first question: there are virtually no strong ML engineers/researchers in defense. So while AV hardware is not as advanced, the people + processing potential could lend a more interesting work environment
      Jul 29, 2020
    • New
      mNmF34

      New

      mNmF34
      No, the problem is interesting but the radar sensors/system/integration used in the AV space is outdated by comparison.

      Are you actually a radar expert (PhD) or you fell into that role? It sounds like you want coworkers who are more experienced in ML?
      Jul 29, 2020