SAN JOSE, Calif.- Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) today announced that the city of Rüsselsheim am Main, Germany, has selected Velodyne to deliver an Intelligent Infrastructure Solution to create a city-wide system for truck passage control. Rüsselsheim will use Velodyne’s lidar-based full stack solution for digital monitoring and reporting of trucks that are banned on city streets to ease road congestion and air and noise pollution.
As part of an initiative to digitize municipal transport systems (called DikoVers), Rüsselsheim will deploy Velodyne’s Intelligent Infrastructure Solution using 16 lidar-based monitoring stations located on heavily traveled access roads used for entering and exiting the city.
The municipal transport system, equipped with Velodyne sensors, was developed and coordinated with the Hessian state government Freedom of Information officer. The officer is responsible for monitoring compliance with European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which safeguards data privacy. The application’s lidar sensors capture non-personalized features of vehicles and their occupants on roadways to detect and electronically monitor trucks subject to the city-wide driving ban aimed at reducing traffic.
“This data protection-compliant system of traffic monitoring is thus playing a pioneering role in Germany,” stated Rüsselsheim am Main city authorities.
To classify vehicles and identify ones subject to Rüsselsheim’s truck ban, the Intelligent Infrastructure Solution uses Velodyne’s Ultra Puck lidar sensors that do not identify driver facial features and license plate numbers, protecting the privacy of individuals and vehicles. The application’s digital monitoring decreases traffic enforcement burdens on police resources.
Centrally located in the Rhine-Main area, which is the second-largest metropolitan region in Germany, Rüsselsheim is an ideal transportation hub with many highway connections. However, these roads resulted in hundreds of trucks passing through the city each day, creating heavy traffic and degrading urban air quality. To address this problem, Rüsselsheim banned transit of trucks that weigh more than 7.5 tons on city streets unless they have a starting point or destination within the municipality.
“Rüsselsheim is taking an innovative approach to protect city residents from the congestion, noise and exhaust fumes caused by long-distance truck traffic,” said Laura Wrisley, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, Velodyne Lidar. “Velodyne believes smart city applications, like our Intelligent Infrastructure Solution, have the potential to deliver game-changing improvements in municipal transport systems and urban sustainability initiatives.”
Velodyne’s Intelligent Infrastructure Solution
Velodyne’s Intelligent Infrastructure Solution combines Velodyne’s award-winning lidar sensors and Bluecity’s powerful artificial intelligence (AI) software. The solution creates a real-time 3D map of roads and intersections, detecting and providing precise information on road users including vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. It reliably collects data in any lighting or weather condition, supporting year-round operation, while also protecting people’s privacy. For this project, COM-IoT Technologies will provide a special image comparison module to the Intelligent Infrastructure Solution.
Rüsselsheim also has plans to use the solution’s traffic monitoring and analytics capabilities in the future. These capabilities can predict, diagnose and address road safety challenges, helping municipalities and other customers make informed decisions to take corrective action.
For more information on the Intelligent Infrastructure Solution, contact Velodyne Sales: 669.275.2526, [email protected].
About Velodyne Lidar
Velodyne Lidar (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) ushered in a new era of autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view lidar sensors. Velodyne, the global leader in lidar, is known for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies. Velodyne’s revolutionary sensor and software solutions provide flexibility, quality, and performance to meet the needs of a wide range of industries, including autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), smart cities and security. Through continuous innovation, Velodyne strives to transform lives and communities by advancing safer mobility for all. For more information, visit www.velodynelidar.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, all statements other than historical fact and include, without limitation, statements regarding Velodyne’s target markets, new products, development efforts, and competition. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “can,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Velodyne’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include uncertainties regarding government regulation and adoption of lidar, the uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Velodyne’s and its customers’ businesses; Velodyne’s ability to manage growth; Velodyne’s ability to execute its business plan; uncertainties related to the ability of Velodyne’s customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market acceptance of these products; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Velodyne’s products; the success of other competing lidar and sensor-related products and services that exist or may become available; uncertainties related to Velodyne’s current litigation and potential litigation involving Velodyne or the validity or enforceability of Velodyne’s intellectual property; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Velodyne’s products and services. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Velodyne’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Velodyne’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Velodyne as of the date hereof, Velodyne undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
