Autonomous driving cars are no longer a dream vehicle, but a car in the near future.In order to obtain judgment materials for safe automatic driving, automatic driving cars know the digitization of visuals, LIDAR, which grasps the three -dimensional arrangement of people around the car and those around the car.Is installed many.AGC has contributed to improving the safety of automatic driving cars through development and supply of lenses, optical filters, and optical elements that make up these sensors.From materials to processing, and the design of optical members, all of the systems that can be developed and produced in -house are consistently developed and produced, and in addition to overwhelming high performance that cannot be realized by other companies, optical members that have achieved high quality and low cost.It is created.
The nearby car is "Museum of Running Faculty Materials"
Automatic driving technology of cars is steadily evolving from ADAS (advanced driving support system) to realize complete automatic driving.Sensors are rapidly sophisticated with artificial intelligence (AI) as a technology that supports the evolution.No matter how improved the performance of AI, if the quality of the data that is the judgment material is poor, the right situation cannot be judged.In order to obtain high -precision information from a wide range of detection areas in all weather and time, a sensor with a wide variety of functions and characteristics is used in one car.
Above all, it is an optical sensor that is essential for realizing a full autonomous car, such as a camera that digitizes human vision and 3D information (Light Detection and Ranging).。The current car has a lot of computers for control and status judgment, and is now called a "running computer."A fully automatic driving car that appears in the near future will be a state that can be called a "museum of running optical components" (Fig. 1).In addition, the era of high -quality optical components to create high -quality and low cost is directly linked to the safety of cars.
Fig. 1 Complete autonomous driving cars in the near future are equipped with a wide variety of optical members.
Create advanced optical parts with materials, processing and design
Electronic Company Electronic Materials Business Division Hikari Parts Division Mitsuo Ozawa, Director of Product Planning Division
AGC focuses on the development of electronics and electronic members -related businesses as one of the strategic businesses.In 2020, it has grown to a sales scale of 105 billion yen, aiming for 180 billion yen in 2025.As a product that boosts such growth, the business of LiDAR and cameras, such as lenses, filters, and diffusion plates, is also developed.
When using LIDAR or camera as a sensor, various optical treatments must be applied to irradiated light and incident light to increase the accuracy of sensing."The high quality of optical processing is directly linked to the performance of the sensor.We are developing and manufacturing optical members that cannot be realized by other companies, "says Mitsuo Osawa, director of the AGC Electronic Company Electronic Materials Business Division Hikari Parts Division, Mitsuo Osawa (Figure 2).
Figure 2 AGC's strengths in the development and manufacturing of optical members
The optical members that make up LIDAR and cameras mounted on the car need to be customized according to the specifications of the electronic system.Furthermore, in order to achieve higher performance, high quality, and low -cost optical members, thoroughly organizing the technology between materials, processing and design is indispensable.AGC has abundant technologies in three areas: material technology, processing technology, design, evaluation, and analysis technology, and can develop and produce optical members in response to requests effectively and efficiently.
"We are proud that companies that have as many different technologies as a system to create optical parts with a wide variety of functions and performance is unusual. We always watch market and technology trends and look ahead to our customers' problems.We are trying to develop and acquire the technologies that will be necessary in the future. If you have a customer with the needs of optical parts that cannot be supported by existing products, we can promptly make solutions that other companies cannot propose.It is possible to deliver "(Mr. Osawa)
Providing materials and optical techniques and supports very leather to CASE
Currently, the automotive industry is working on a major transformation as if to reconstruct the car in accordance with the "CASE (connected, automation, sharing & service," trend.In addition to cutting -edge ICTs such as AI and IoT, it is necessary to create new value by making full use of power electronics and sensing in different fields from mechanical technology, which is the core compitance of the automotive industry.There is.
In order to promote the CASE trend, the knowledge and technologies that have accumulated by the automotive industry themselves are not enough, and collaboration with other industries is indispensable.AGC is one of the companies that support the leather in the automotive industry by providing the technology and optical technology, which is outside the industry.
The connection between the AGC and the automotive industry is surprisingly long through supply such as window glass of cars."The automotive industry is an industry that manages suppliers as strictly as comparable to other industries, seeking safety in each of the parts and materials that make up cars.If you are not familiar with the standards of views and quality, you will not be able to trade no matter how good the optical member is.AGC's strength in developing an optical member of the optical member for electronic devices, "says Osawa.
AGC's unique technology is sparkling in each member that makes up LIDAR
From here, I would like to introduce what AGC's optical member is used, with Lidar as an example, and what AGC provides (Figure 3).
Fig. 3 LIDAR structure and AGC's optical member
In ADAS (advanced driving support system) vehicles and automatic driving cars, LIDAR acts as an eye to obtain information to protect the safety of people around the drivers and cars.It is a type of sensor that measures the distance to the object, which is a combination of a part (emitter) that irradiates the target object of a near -infrared laser light to the object (a receiver) that detects the light that reflects back and returns.LIDAR is composed of a wide variety of electronic components and optical members that play a variety of roles.AGC supplies lenses, DOE (Diffractive Optical Element), diffraction optical elements, optical filters, and cover glass with high infrared transparency (Fig. 4).In addition, an electronic member such as a package substrate that implements a semiconductor laser that is the light source is also provided.
Figure 4 Faculty and electronic members developed and supplied for LIDAR for in -vehicle AGC
When irradiating a near -infrared laser light with an emitter, an optical member is required to ensure the light intensity that can provide a light intensity that can provide a reflected light that can be detected everywhere in the detected area.This is a DOE (diffracted optical element) that converts the laser light to an arbitrary pattern, or a diffusion plate that diffuses to the area where the light is refracted and irradiated.Since AGC has a technology for producing optical elements only with inorganic materials, it can provide a highly durable laser light irradiation with high peak light intensity.As a result, distant objects can be detected even under the sunlight during the day.
In addition, the LIDAR mounted on the car uses a variety of laser light irradiation methods according to the purpose of detection and usage scenes.In the irradiation method, a scan method that makes a straight -line light scan and covers a wide detection area, a flash system that spreads the light over a wide area and irradiates a large angle range at once, and a line scan system that hits between both types.There is (Fig. 5).In addition, there are many ways to scan light.DOE and diffusion boards need to be optimally designed in consideration of these irradiation differences.
Fig. 5 LIDAR's diverse light irradiation method
エミッターの光源となる半導体レーザーでは、長距離での感度を高めるために、高出力化が求められている。その実現には、素子で発生する熱を効率よく逃がせるパッケージ基板が欠かせない。ＡＧＣでは、微小な電子部品の製造などに利用されるLTCC（Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics）技術と、独自のガラス材料技術を組み合わせて、「GCHP®（Grass Ceramics Hybrid Package）」と呼ぶ放熱効率の高い新型パッケージ基板を開発しており、長距離検出の実現に貢献する。
The lens is used on the emitter side to skip the laser light for a long distance (light control that paralleles the direction of the rays), and the radiation of rays to irradiate a wide area.Even on the receiver side, it is used to collect the reflected light as a detection sensor.Like the diffusion plate, the lens must be optimally designed according to the laser light irradiation method used, the structure and specification of the LIDAR itself.AGC is processed using a mold press molding method that puts a glass material in a precision mold, heated, softened, and pressed.It is a manufacturing method with excellent mass production and contributes to reducing manufacturing costs.
On the receiver side, it is necessary to remove noise other than the reflected light, such as solar and lighting light, from the lights taken in before detecting reflected light with the sensor.It is an optical filter that enhances the detection sensitivity by playing the role.AGC has a technology that can freely create optical filters corresponding to a wide range of wavelengths, transmittances, and prevented wavelength bands, creating characteristics that match the purpose and use scene.
In Lidar, which is mounted on the car, it is necessary to protect the internal structure with a cover glass from the impact of a stepping stone.This cover glass not only has a high strength, but also has a high permeability with a high -infrared transparency at the same time.In some cases, there is a request to incorporate a heater function used for frost and snow.AGC uses the know -how of strengthening glass strength, various processing and manufacturing technology, and develops and manufactures cover glass that meets these demands.
The key to the further evolution of LIDAR is the miniaturization of the optical member.
LIDAR is an essential sensor to ensure safety of autonomous driving cars, but at present it is a large device that stands out when it is mounted on a car.When mounted on the roof, it looks like a patrol lamp, and it is clumsy for passenger cars.For this reason, it is urgent to miniaturize in anticipation of practical use.In addition, miniaturization is important from the viewpoint of safety improvement.In the development of autonomous driving cars, it is now equipped with multiple different types of sensors in order to respond to all driving environments and ensure safety even if the sensor is broken.If multiple types of LIDAR and other optical sensors such as LIDAR can be miniaturized and complex, of course, the number of sensors that can be mounted on one car will increase, and the safety will be significantly increased.
Of the parts that make up LIDAR, it is easy to miniaturize for electronic parts, but it is difficult to miniaturize mechanical parts for scanning laser light.Conversely, the hard work of companies that handle optical members with various functions such as AGC holds the key to miniaturization and composite of optical sensors such as LIDAR.
AGC is already preparing for these demands."The functions of optical members will be compounded, the number of lenses is reduced and the integration of filter functions will be promoted to reduce the total number of optical members.This is an approach that can only be done by AGC. "(Mr. Osawa).
The cars equipped with LIDAR have begun to launch, and AGC's optical members have played a role.In addition, although it is not well known, there is already an application that has been practical for an autonomous driving system that uses Lidar.It is an autonomous driving robot, cleaning robot, and drone called "AGV" that transports products and production members in the factory.In the future, the introduction of autonomous driving systems is steadily progressing in the field of agricultural machinery and construction machinery.
The evolution of AGC's optical members will enhance not only cars, but also smart factory, smart agriculture, IoT that requires optical sensing, and various industries in various industries.AGC will continue to refine the technology that produces more advanced optical members and contribute to new value creation.
関連リンク：LiDARとＡＧＣの製品SHARE-