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Infineon announced on 11 October 2016 that it had acquired all of Innoluce BV, a Nijmegen-based semiconductor company specializing in miniature MEMS laser scanners. The deal was intended to add lidar to Infineon’s automotive sensing portfolio; its terms were not disclosed. The announcement and a later reference design describe the companies’ intended technical roles, but do not establish that an Innoluce-derived product reached commercial sale.
What Infineon acquired
Infineon said it had acquired 100% of Innoluce BV. Innoluce was a fabless semiconductor company founded in 2010 as a Royal Philips spin-off and based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Infineon and contemporaneous reporting did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition. Infineon’s 11 October 2016 announcement and EE Times’ report that day describe the transaction.
What Innoluce’s lidar technology did
Lidar measures distance using laser light. In a scanning lidar system, a mechanism steers the beam across the scene being measured. Innoluce’s specialty was compact MEMS-based laser-scanning modules, including silicon micro-mirrors and an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) to control the mirror.
Infineon’s 11 October 2016 investor presentation attributed a range of greater than 200 metres and resolution of less than 0.1° to Innoluce’s modules. These are company-stated capabilities from 2016, not independently validated results or current product specifications. The presentation also characterized MEMS scanning as a compact alternative to larger mechanical scanning mirrors; that period-specific comparison should not be read as a universal ranking of lidar designs today. Infineon’s investor presentation lays out the claim and the system concept.
#1 Best Overall
- [High Accuracy] DTOF FHL-LD19 Kit, based on DTOF LD19, which has a sampling rate of 8000 times/s. In addition, The lidar ranging distance can reach up to 12 meters Based on white objects with 70% reflectivity,so it can collect environmental information at a rather high speed and accuracy, ensure a real-time performance.
- [360 Degree 2D Scanning] The ranging core of DTOF FHL-LD19 rotates clockwise, performs 360 degree 2D omnidirectional lidar range scan on the surrounding environment, and generates an outline map. configurable scan rate from 5~13Hz, Typical 10Hz.
- [Plug and Play] With the 3 feature: Build-in Serial Port and USB Interface, Open Source SDK and Tools and Integration with ROS, Just connecting the DTOF FHL-LD19 and a computer via a micro USB cable, users can use the DTOF FHL-LD19 without any coding job. DTOF technology, which repairs electrical connection errors due to physical wear and prolong the life-span.
- [Widely Application] It can be used for home service/cleaning robot navigation and localization, general robot navigation and localization, smart toy’s localization and obstacle avoidance, environment scanning and 3D re-modeling, General simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), etc.
- [Wiki] You can find more docs by wiki.youyeetoo.com/en/Lidar/LD19.Any technical issues after purchase please contact with our forum by forum.youyeetoo.com/ or click "WayPonDEV" Store and ask a question. Or send message to monica @ youyeetoo.com
How the two companies’ roles were divided
A December 2016 Infineon reference-design slide distinguishes Innoluce’s scanner expertise from Infineon’s surrounding electronics. It assigns the MEMS mirror and mirror-control ASIC to Innoluce’s key competence, while showing Infineon’s contribution in the amplifier, system ASIC, microcontroller and power-management circuitry. The architecture also includes a laser source and detector diodes. Infineon’s 14 December 2016 presentation shows this reference design.
This division explains why the acquisition was framed as a capability addition rather than simply the purchase of a finished lidar sensor: Innoluce brought the beam-scanning and mirror-control know-how, while Infineon presented its own components as part of the larger system.
Rank #2
- 1, Model: TF-Luna, Operating range: 0.2-8m, Distance resolution: 1cm, Power comsumption: not over 0.35W, Frame rate: 1-250Hz, Frequency: 100Hz, FOV: 2 degree, Net weight: not over 5g, Communication: UART/I2C interface, Power supply: 5V. Compatible with Raspberry Pi Pico, Pixhawk and WiFi_Lora_32 0.96" oled display transceiver module.
- 2, TF-Luna is a single-point ranging LiDAR, based on TOF principle. It is built with algorithms adapted to various application environments and adopts multiple adjustable configurations and parameters so as to offer excellent distance measurement performances in complex application fields and scenarios.
- 3, TF-Luna module comes with UART and I2C interface, default communication interface is UART, IIC can be realized by wiring pins, if you need to use I2C interface, please set it yourself. There are 3pcs cables comes with the lidar, 1.25mm-6Pin male to male connector wire, 1.25mm-6Pin male connector to male/female dupont cables, covers the cables for most scenarios, makes it easy and convenient for your connections.
- 4, TF-Luna Lidar is very light, very suitable for scenarios with strict load requirements. Main Applications: Short distance obstacle avoidance, Auxiliany focus, Elevator projection, Intrusion detection, Level measurement etc.
- 5, What you will get is: 1pc TF-Luna LiDAR Range finder sensor module, 1pc 1.25mm-6Pin male to male connector wire, 1pc 1.25mm-6Pin male connector to male dupont cable, and 1pc 1.25mm-6Pin male connector to female dupont cable. If you have any question, please contact us by click "WISHIOT" under the shopping cart and click "Ask a question" in the new page
Why Infineon wanted Innoluce
Infineon presented the acquisition as a way to extend its automotive sensing portfolio beyond radar and cameras into lidar, supporting advanced driver assistance and automated driving. Automotive division president Peter Schiefer told EE Times: “With this acquisition, we take a big step into the lidar technology that will play an important role in the safety cocoon essential to fully automated cars,” and, “We intend to make lidar an affordable feature for every new-built car worldwide”. These were statements of company ambition at the time, not evidence that the goal was achieved.
What the acquisition does—and does not—tell us about products
The 2016 announcement and reference design establish Infineon’s acquisition rationale and the technical capabilities the companies described. They do not establish whether Innoluce-derived technology later became a commercial Infineon product, what product specifications might have followed, or whether it was deployed in vehicles. The announcement should therefore be understood as a historical account of a technology and capability acquisition, not as confirmation that a lidar module is currently available from Infineon.
Quick Recap
Rank #3
- Document: https://en(DOT)benewake(DOT)com/DataDownload/index.aspx?pid=20&lcid=21
- Communication level: LVTTL(3.3V), Communication interface: UART/IIC (the default is UART, you can send comment to set it to IIC ), Default baud rate: 115200
- Low-cost ranging LiDAR module with highly stable, accurate, sensitive range detection. Operating range: 0.2-8m
- Application: Traffic Monitoring, Obstacle detection, Level measurement, Smart device, Security and obstacle avoidance, Drone altitude holding and terrain following
- What you will get: 1 piece TF-Luna LiDAR Module and 3 pieces 1.25mm 6P Cable
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