Wideye, a scale-up of AGC Automotive Europe, has announced the creation of Wideye Rhino, dedicated to developing sensor protection glass solutions for non-automotive applications.
These solutions include LiDAR for industrial vehicles in mining, farming, transportation and construction industries. Glass is the ideal material to meet the safety and durability requirements specific to all sensors used in off-road applications.
The emergence of autonomous vehicles requires the use of many sensors including LiDAR. However, the particularly harsh environment in which most of these vehicles operate requires dedicated protection of the sensors to prevent them being exposed to serious malfunction. It is indeed mandatory to ensure that impacts from stones, dust or any other type of dirt will not damage the sensors.
Glass is an ideal solution. In addition to being transparent and providing protection against dust, it is durable and extremely resistant to scratches and impacts. It is also UV and chemical resistant. Wiping systems can easily be combined with to guarantee a perfect visibility of the sensor.
Ultimately, the major advantage of Wideye Rhino comparative to standard glass is the ability to work with the near infrared spectrum utilized by LiDARs, an innovative glass composition being developed to specifically address this growing market need.
In addition, taking advantage of the AGC’s world leading glass expertise, various functionalities can be added like:
- Anti-dust coating to reduce dust adhesion on glass
- Anti-reflective coating to increase optical performance in the near infrared
- Integration of a heating system for defrosting or defogging purposes
- Lamination or tempering to increase the impact resistance of the glass
Finally, besides safety and visibility, glass also brings a pleasant aesthetics. Its design can be customized to specific shapes, various thicknesses and can be offered transparent or dark. This allows the LiDAR to seamlessly be integrated into the vehicle’s body and optionally to be fully hidden.
Wideye Rhino can assist its customers on three levels:
- Provide Glass and protective hardware
- Co-Design of the solutions for the use of LiDAR
- Be a global LiDAR integrator through appropriate partnerships
Wideye is part of AGC Automotive Europe. Based in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), AGC Automotive Europe is the European automotive glass branch of the AGC Group, specialized in production of glazing solutions  for vehicle manufacturers (including ready-to-assemble systems , antennas, sensors,  heating elements and smart glazing.
Further innovative solutions can be viewed at wideye.vision
