Cepton Introduces the World’s Smallest Wide Field of View Lidar Sensor for Near-Range Applications
Cepton Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of state-of-the-art, intelligent, lidar-based solutions, has announced its path-breaking miniature lidar sensor – the Nova - priced at less than $100 for high volume automotive applications.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210112005035/en/
With a lidar target size of 3.5 cm (W) x 3.5 cm (H) x 7.5 cm (D), and weighing less than 350 g, the Nova is extremely compact and easily embeddable for automotive applications. © 2021 Cepton Technologies.
The Nova is a wide angle near-range lidar sensor intended to address major gaps in proximity detection of objects with current sensor technologies. Featuring best-in-class, high resolution 3D imaging with a high field of view (FOV) of 90-120° (H) and 60-90° (V), depending on configuration, Nova sets a worldwide benchmark with its unprecedented combination of compactness, FOV coverage and affordability.
Powered by Cepton’s patented and proven Micro Motion Technology (MMT®), the non-rotational, mirrorless, and frictionless Nova lidar can be hidden all around a vehicle to provide a complete 360° view of its immediate surroundings. With a lidar target size of 3.5 cm (W) x 3.5 cm (H) x 7.5 cm (D), and weighing less than 350 g, the ultra-small Nova is an easily embeddable lidar sensor that not only enables optimal styling choices but demonstrates the scalability of MMT® to the smallest form factors.
Nova has an angular resolution of up to 0.3°, with a maximum range of up to 30 m and is therefore ideal for automotive Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle (AV) applications such as blind spot detection, small object detection, automated park assist and free space estimation around the vehicle. For vehicles, a multi-lidar architecture can be facilitated, thereby creating a virtual safety zone all around while minimizing disruption to vehicle design aesthetics.
Nova is ideally suited for accurate detection of objects in proximity, such as small children, on-road objects, road edges, stationary objects and more. With this level of capability and its ultra-compact design, Nova can not only support ADAS and AV applications but also autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) and smart industrial applications.
With lidar’s increasing presence in cars and trucks, Cepton has been innovating its technology to meet the stringent requirements from OEMs and Tier 1s while striving to advance lidar designs that enable easy integration in the next generation of automobiles. Nova is the latest representation of Cepton’s state-of-the-art lidar innovation, that encompasses the goal of automotive-grade reliability, low power (<3.5 W) and high performance, along with an elegant, minimalistic design that requires only small amounts of real estate in the vehicle body.
Nova’s modular design and easily accessible components make it highly manufacturable, with very low cost at high volume. Previously, Cepton was one of the first in the industry to announce a <$1,000 volume lidar price for high performance, long range lidar (Vista-X90). Consistent with that trend, Nova is the first high field of view, near-range lidar with a <$100 price point for high automotive volumes. This fulfils Cepton’s objective to bring to market scalable, mass-market lidar solutions that enable the automotive industry to substantially accelerate safety and autonomy innovations in the next generation of vehicles.
“The Nova is an industry-first, transformational lidar that fundamentally changes the game for near-field sensing,” said Cepton CEO Dr. Jun Pei. “Currently, consumer vehicles have been limited to technologies that cannot facilitate true Level 3 or Level 4 autonomy for the mass market. Radars, cameras and ultrasonic sensors suffer from high false positives and false negatives. Rotational lidars are not embeddable, making them impractical for consumer vehicles. Near-range flash lidars either lack the wide field of view or cannot match the power and size requirements to be discretely hidden all around the vehicle. The Nova represents path-breaking lidar innovation for the automotive industry in that it achieves a level of performance that is unmatched for such a small form factor.”
Nova is targeted for high volume production starting in 2023. Due to anticipated high demand for samples, Nova will only be available to select customers in 2021 through Cepton’s Early Access Program. If you would like to be part of this program or would like more details, please contact Mitch Hourtienne, Cepton Senior Director of Business Development at mitch.hourtienne@cepton.com.
To learn more about the Nova and Cepton’s automotive grade lidar capabilities, join Cepton at the upcoming digital CES 2021, from January 11th to 14th, via our virtual booth page (CES registration required). On Jan 12th, Cepton CMO, Dr. T. R. Ramachandran will join North American Lighting (NAL) for a virtual panel discussion on “Impact of Sensors on Mobility” at 11 a.m. (PST) and present at an online NAL-hosted webinar “Lidar, What’s the Future?” at 2 p.m. (PST). Watch the online sessions for free to learn more about how lidar is transforming the world and how Cepton’s smart lidar solutions are ideally suited for automotive and smart infrastructure applications.
About Cepton Technologies, Inc.
Cepton provides state-of-the-art, intelligent, lidar-based solutions for a range of markets such as automotive (ADAS/AV), smart cities, smart spaces and smart industrial applications. Cepton’s patented MMT®-based lidar technology enables reliable, scalable and cost-effective solutions that deliver long range, high resolution 3D perception for smart applications.
Founded in 2016 and led by industry veterans with over two decades of collective experience across a wide range of advanced lidar and imaging technologies, Cepton is focused on the mass market commercialization of high performance, high quality lidar solutions. Cepton is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, with a presence in Germany, Canada, Japan and India, to serve a fast-growing global customer base. For more information, visit www.cepton.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210112005035/en/
Contact information
Faithy Li, Cepton Technologies, media@cepton.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Hanseo University Expands Aviation Training Program with New Frasca Flight Training Device10.12.2025 17:05:00 EET | Press release
Frasca International, Inc., a FlightSafety International company and leader in flight simulation, today announced that Hanseo University in South Korea is expanding its aviation program with a new Level 5 Cessna 172 Flight Training Device (FTD), the seventh Frasca device to join the university’s fleet. Hanseo University’s school of Aeronautical Science recognized by the Korean University Accreditation Institute as the nation’s first Specialized University for Training Professional Workforce Industries, continues to expand its state-of-the-art simulation capabilities with the acquisition of a Level 5 Cessna 172 FTD. The addition builds on a partnership with Frasca that has spanned more than two decades and further advances aviation education across Asia. “We were seeking simulators that provided both realism and reliability, and Frasca stood out immediately,” said Dr. HanSuk Jung, Vice President Aeronautics, Hanseo University. “Over the years, our partnership has become a deep and lasti
Bregal Milestone Announces Majority Growth Investment in Beyond Now10.12.2025 17:00:00 EET | Press release
Bregal Milestone, a leading European software growth private equity firm, today announced a majority growth investment in Beyond Now (the “Company”), a fast-growing, cloud-native supply chain software provider for AI-enabled digital commerce. Driven by strong customer demand, Beyond Now has generated profitable growth and >40% last twelve-month ARR growth. Beyond Now supports some of the world’s largest and most innovative Communication Service Providers (CSPs), including Verizon, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and NTT, in managing complex digital supply chains to create seamless end-to-end partner and customer operations. Founded in 2018, the Company serves telecommunication providers, technology companies, and private enterprises to efficiently scale and monetize digital services through its suite of modern, Ecosystem Orchestration and Digital Platforms - including an AI Digital Business Platform for orchestrating partner offerings, an AI Digital Marketplace solution for personalized custom
Andersen Global Enhances Legal Capabilities with Addition of Brazilian Member Firm10.12.2025 16:30:00 EET | Press release
Andersen Global reinforces its legal platform in Brazil as Lotti e Araújo becomes a member firm, strengthening the organization’s capabilities in Latin America. Founded over 20 years ago, Lotti e Araújo provides comprehensive legal advisory services to Brazilian and multinational clients across numerous industries. Its multidisciplinary practice includes corporate law, tax, labor, litigation, collection, and credit recovery—along with specialized work identifying hidden assets and recovering appeal and judicial deposits in older cases. The firm also handles arbitration, administrative law, foreign investment, real estate, intellectual property, data protection, and corporate restructuring, and offers paralegal support for company formation and representation before regulatory agencies. The team advises clients on preventive legal strategies and complex disputes before administrative bodies and courts in Brazil. “At Lotti e Araújo, we have built our practice on ethics, precision, and a
NetJets to Bring Starlink High-Speed Connectivity to Fleet10.12.2025 16:05:00 EET | Press release
NetJets, the global leader in private aviation, and Starlink have entered into an agreement to bring high-speed in-flight connectivity to 600 aircraft across NetJets’ global fleet by the end of 2026, unlocking a new level of productivity and exceptional travel experiences in the air. “This agreement with Starlink positions NetJets to continue delivering exceptional travel experiences for our Owners and their guests,” said Patrick Gallagher, President, NetJets Aviation. “With Starlink, travel is elevated with reliable connectivity whether our Owners are flying for business or leisure—as seamless connectivity is critical to the experience our Owners need and deserve.” This multi-year, service level agreement paves the way for NetJets to quickly and seamlessly outfit its aircraft across the U.S. and Europe, with installation beginning as early as this month. Starlink is the world's most advanced satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of suppo
Mercator Ocean International Makes AI Ocean Forecasting Operational with GLONET Validated by OceanBench at NeurIPS 202510.12.2025 16:00:00 EET | Press release
At NeurIPS 2025, one of the world’s leading AI conferences, Mercator Ocean unveiled OceanBench, the first open benchmark designed to assess AI Ocean forecasting models. This milestone follows the publication of Mercator Ocean’s AI model GLONET in September. Together, OceanBench and GLONET represent a decisive step toward integrating artificial intelligence into operational ocean forecasting, strengthening Europe’s leadership in trustworthy, AI-driven predictions at global scale. Presented by Anass El Aouni, Oceanographer and machine learning (ML) researcher, and Quentin Gaudel, ML Systems Architect, OceanBench establishes a unified standard to evaluate AI models against fundamental ocean dynamics. GLONET is the first forecasting system to be validated through OceanBench for operational use. Anass El Aouni : “OceanBench provides a transparent standard to evaluate AI-driven ocean forecasts. By comparing artificial intelligence with physics-based models, we can highlight strengths, identi
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom