Radar sensors are a key technology for assisted and automated driving: They enable vehicles to warn of collisions when pulling out of a parking spot, to detect objects in the blind spot, to park autonomously, and to drive automatically on highways under certain conditions. Now, international automotive supplier FORVIA HELLA has reached a significant milestone in this product category: the 100 millionth radar sensor that the Company has manufactured since. This success story began 20 years ago at the electronics plant in Hamm (Germany); today, FORVIA HELLA, with an international network of global partners, has series projects for almost 30 manufacturers of passenger cars and trucks.
“The 100 millionth radar sensor is not only impressive proof of our innovative strength and our industrial excellence in this product area,” says Jörg Weisgerber, Managing Director Electronics at FORVIA HELLA. “With our sensors, we have been setting standards for years and enabling our customers worldwide to reliably implement both NCAP applications and state-of-the-art automated driving functions. In doing so, we make a decisive contribution to road safety and increase trust in the transfer of control to the vehicle. This success is above all due to the extraordinary commitment and high competence of our employees worldwide. Their know-how, innovative strength, and passion have made it possible to reach this milestone and to occupy a leading position in a forward-looking product area.”
Latest milestone: Series order for the innovative 77 GHz generation “ForWave7”
FORVIA HELLA entered the radar business shortly after the turn of the millennium – with the first start of series production of 24 GHz radar sensors in 2005. These are still being manufactured today in further developed product generations. The technology has been consistently advanced since then: It is not only an indispensable part of modern driver assistance systems with widely established functions such as blind spot detection, lane change assistant, or parking exit assistance. Based on 77 GHz technology, which FORVIA HELLA has launched in 2020, the latest radar sensors also provide the necessary environmental data for highly advanced automated systems.
Compared to 24 GHz technology, today’s 77 GHz product generation offers more than three times the transmission frequency, around five times the available bandwidth, and, with more than 300 meters, approximately three times the range. This means: whereas a 24 GHz sensor, for example, detects a passenger car and a person standing nearby as a single object, the 77 GHz sensor can clearly distinguish and precisely identify both objects. This is an essential prerequisite for implementing automated functions up to SAE Level 3.
Recent milestone in the business history: This summer, FORVIA HELLA was nominated for the first time to develop and manufacture the latest product generation in the 77 GHz radar family: “ForWave7”. These radars can be specifically tailored to the requirements of the different regional markets: on the one hand, they offer high scalability for worldwide use in various vehicle segments; on the other hand, the ForWave7 product generation can implement automated functionalities particularly cost-effectively.
Significant further sales growth in the radar sensor business expected in the coming years
Jörg Weisgerber: “The development towards partially and highly automated driving is a key growth driver for us. By 2030, around 90 percent of all new vehicles worldwide are to be equipped with assisted or automated driving functions. This will also significantly increase the number of sensors installed per vehicle. Against this background, we expect to continue to grow significantly in the radar sensor business in the coming years.”
(Photo credit: FORVIA HELLA)
