Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric has unveiled a new compact light-detection and ranging (LiDAR) solution for autonomous vehicles.

With this solution, the company seeks to further facilitate safe and secure autonomous driving operations.

The new LiDAR solution is equipped with a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) that increases horizontal vision span and enhances the vehicle and pedestrian detection capabilities of the self-driving vehicle.

It has a volume of around 900cc. Mitsubishi Electric now plans to develop a smaller LiDAR variant with a volume of just 350cc or less.

During operations, the solution irradiates objects by laser and uses a dual-axis MEMS mirror to scan for the reflected light.

As a result, the technology is able to develop three-dimensional images of vehicles and pedestrians.

Mitsubishi Electric’s new development features a 7mm x 5mm electromagnetic MEMS mirror, which is capable of scanning horizontally and vertically.

The mirror currently supports ±15° of horizontal movement and ±3.4° of vertical movement.

The Japanese firm now plans to increase the vertical movement capabilities of the mirror to ±6° or more by improving the beam structure of the MEMS.

It also aims to achieve a vertical scanning angle of more than 25°, a feature that will help the autonomous car to identify vehicles and pedestrians in close proximity.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Mitsubishi Electric is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi, focusing on electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing.

Last year, the company piloted a hazard alert system that will enable the cars to automatically warn the drivers about approaching vehicles and other dangers. Mitsubishi Electric conducted the pilot in collaboration with HERE Technologies.