Aurora to Acquire Lidar Company Blackmore

Aurora, a developer of self-driving technology, plans to purchase the lidar company Blackmore to position Aurora for continued growth in the field of autonomous vehicles.

Lidar is critical for developing reliable self-driving technology that can navigate roads more safely than a human driver, said Aurora officials. The company uses various sensor modalities including cameras, radar, and lidar to improve the reliability of its driver system.

Aurora will incorporate Blackmore’s frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technology. Signal processing will maximize the advantages of FMCW, which include high dynamic range, single photon sensitivity, and interference immunity — to improve safety margin, chip-level scalability, and all-weather performance.

The point-by-point velocity measurement enabled by FMCW will make it possible for Aurora to advance robotics and deliver the benefits of self-driving technology.