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
OPEX® Corporation Presented with Multiple DM Awards by Document Manager Magazine15.1.2026 11:00:00 EET | Press release
OPEX® Corporation, a global leader in Next Generation Automation providing innovative solutions for warehouse, document and mail automation, has been recognized by Document Manager magazine with multiple DM Awards. At the 2025 awards ceremony held recently in London, OPEX was named the winner in two categories―Imaging Product of the Year: High Volume and Hardware Product of the Year―for its Falcon+® document imaging solution. OPEX also received runners-up accolades, in partnership with Iron Mountain, in the category of Project of the Year: Public Sector, for their NHS Medical Scanning project. “OPEX is honored to receive such prestigious recognition from Document Manager magazine,” said Alban Collas, Director of EMEA Operations, OPEX. “Our team is committed to developing solutions that enable clients to transform how business is conducted. For our imaging solutions to be recognized in this way means so much to us. We’re especially pleased that the DM Awards honored our partnership with
SAP and Syngenta Announce Partnership to Scale AI-Assisted Agriculture15.1.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Syngenta, a global leader in agricultural innovation, today announced a multi-year strategic technology partnership to accelerate AI-assisted innovation across Syngenta’s global operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260115682130/en/ Jeff Rowe - CEO of Syngenta Group (left) and Christian Klein - CEO of SAP (right) The partnership will embed artificial intelligence at the core of Syngenta’s enterprise, modernizing operations and enabling accelerated innovation through advanced data analytics across the business — from manufacturing and supply chain to grower-facing products and services. Agriculture continues to navigate challenges driven by climate variability, supply chain complexity, and global uncertainty. By deploying AI-assisted tools enterprise-wide, this partnership positions Syngenta to meet the challenge of feeding a projected 10 billion people by 2050, while unlocking fast
NTT DATA Recognized as a Global Top Employer for Third Consecutive Year15.1.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, today announces it has been certified as a Global Top Employer for 2026 by the Top Employers Institute. Recognized for the third year in a row, this prestigious honor places NTT DATA among a select group of just 17 organizations worldwide honored for consistently delivering a high-performing people strategy across its global operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260115418660/en/ NTT DATA recognized as a Global Top Employer In addition to its global recognition, NTT DATA has also earned four Top Employer 2026 regional seals and 37 country and region seals across North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa. The Global Certification is the highest level of recognition offered by the Top Employers Institute and underscores NTT DATA’s ability to align its leadership, leverage data-driven insights and apply validated b
Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP) Announces CE Mark for ULTRA GI™ Cycle for Duodenoscopes in Partnership with FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe15.1.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
ASP International GmbH (“ASP”), a division of Fortive (NYSE: FTV), in collaboration with FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe GmbH, proudly announces that the ULTRA GI™ Cycle has received CE mark approval. The ULTRA GI™ Cycle is the latest innovation for the STERRAD™ 100NX Sterilizer with ALLClear™ Technology. The ULTRA GI™ Cycle’s receipt of the CE mark represents a pivotal advancement in elevating patient safety across healthcare facilities and addressing the complex challenges associated with traditional reprocessing methods. “This is a meaningful step forward in our mission to make duodenoscope reprocessing safer across Europe,” said Chad Rohrer, President, ASP. “By bringing hydrogen peroxide gas plasma sterilization into routine practice, we’re giving clinicians greater confidence to focus on what matters most – their patients.” ASP’s immediate focus is to work with medical device manufacturers to ensure that new duodenoscope models are designed to be compatible with hydrogen peroxide. The
AWS Launches AWS European Sovereign Cloud and Announces Expansion Across Europe15.1.2026 09:00:00 EET | Press release
Today, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the general availability of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a new, independent cloud for Europe entirely located within the EU, and physically and logically separate from other AWS Regions. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud’s unique approach provides the only fully featured, independently operated sovereign cloud backed by strong technical controls, sovereign assurances, and legal protections designed to meet the needs of European governments and enterprises for sensitive data. AWS also announced plans to extend the AWS European Sovereign Cloud footprint from Germany across the EU to support stringent isolation, in-country data residency, and low latency requirements. This will start with new sovereign AWS Local Zones located in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal. From day one, AWS’s global cloud and AI infrastructure have been sovereign-by-design and provide customers with complete control over the location and movement of their data. Th
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