Ouster and CronAI Partner on Intelligent 3D Perception for Automation Applications

As part of a new collaboration, Ouster and CronAI plan to develop current spinning LiDAR sensors and next-generation solid-state LiDAR technologies. In addition to LiDAR technologies, Ouster’s partners and customers will have access to CronAI’s senseEDGE platform.

The CronAI’s senseEDGE Platform

CronAI’s developed the 3D data perception platform senseEDGE to allow machines to perceive and acquire information from unknown environments.

The senseEDGE platform. Image courtesy of CronAI.

According to the company’s website, the platform’s ultimate goal is to enable innovators to build a safer autonomous future. CronAI reported its software platform is specifically designed to process 3D sensor data and computer vision.

Meanwhile, Ouster can focus on building quality sensor technologies through the new partnership while significantly mitigating customer investment risks. The senseEDGE leverages field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) supporting sequential, parallel, and mixed workloads at lower precisions.

According to Tushar Chhabra, CronAI co-founder and CEO, these features translate to improvements in the platform’s reduced power consumption, lower latency, and throughput.

An overview of CronAI’s senseEDGE’s function. Image used courtesy of CronAI.

“Now innovators can develop solutions using 3D sensors without the performance bottlenecks of traditional GPU compute hardware,” said Chhabra.

CronAI’s platform plus Ouster’s current solid-state LiDAR technology plan to push LiDAR into a newer digital age.

A High-Tech Partnership

Software and processing bottlenecks are quite frequent when building applications and solutions with 3D sensors. 

The collaboration between Ouster and CronAI aims specifically at tackling this issue, utilizing the companies’ complementary technologies. The move will see CronAI join Ouster’s ecosystem of partners.

CronAI’s senseEDGE will unlock smart spaces’ potential—transforming critical infrastructure security and enabling new industrial automation levels. The senseEDGE platform will help customers accelerate their projects and unlock the perception capabilities of high-resolution digital LiDAR for new and innovative applications.

Improving Solid-State LiDAR Technologies

Ouster is working to enhance its LiDAR technology's value by accelerating 3D sensor data on the edge interface platform. 

Ouster’s LiDAR technology. Image courtesy of Ouster. 

CronAI expects to achieve the goal by reducing the customers’ need to invest in research and development projects, as well as speeding up products’ time to market, and increasing the deployment efficiency.

By speeding up algorithms and neural networks, Ouster can help its customers to innovate faster while also achieving higher performance per watt, performance per dollar, and throughput per TOP.

To further accelerate its platform’s development efforts, CronAI recently opened its early access program to partners and is now accepting pre-orders for development kits to ship in the next few months.

CronAI’s technology partners include Xilings, Intel, and Nvidia, while the company’s sensor partners count industry giants like Ouster, Quanergy, and SICK.