Aeva Technologies, a developer of lidar methods primarily based in Mountain View, Calif., has unveiled the Aeva Eve 1V, a high-precision, noncontact motion sensor constructed on its frequency modulated steady wave (FMCW) sensing expertise. The corporate says that the Eve 1V measures an object’s movement with accuracy, repeatability, and reliability—all with out ever making contact with the fabric. That final level is vital for the Eve 1V’s meant setting: Industrial manufacturing.
At present’s manufacturing traces are beneath stress to ship sooner manufacturing, tighter tolerances, and nil defects, usually whereas working with all kinds of delicate supplies. Conventional tactile instruments corresponding to measuring wheels and encoders can slip, put on out, and trigger pricey downtime. Many noncontact options, whereas promising, are both too costly or fall brief in accuracy and reliability beneath real-world situations, says Mina Rezk, cofounder and chief expertise officer at Aeva.
“Eve 1V was constructed to resolve that actual hole: A compact, eye-safe, noncontact motion sensor that delivers submillimeter-per-second velocity accuracy with out touching the fabric, so producers can get rid of slippage errors, keep away from materials harm, and scale back maintenance-related downtime, enabling increased yield and extra predictable operations,” Rezk says.
In contrast to conventional lidar that sends bursts of sunshine and waits for these bursts to return to make measurements, FMCW constantly emits a low-power laser whereas sweeping its frequency. By evaluating outgoing and returning indicators, it detects frequency shifts that reveal each distance and velocity in actual time. The extra measurement of an object’s velocity to its place in three-dimensional area makes FMCW a sort of 4D lidar.
Eve 1V is the second member of its Eve 1 household, following the launch of the Eve 1D earlier this year. The Eve 1D is a compact displacement sensor able to detecting motion on the micrometer scale, roughly 1/100 the thickness of a human hair. “Collectively, Eve 1D and Eve 1V present how we will take the identical FMCW notion platform and tailor it for various industrial wants: Eve 1D for distance measurement and vibration detection, and Eve 1V for exact velocity and size measurement,” Rezk says.
Future purposes might lengthen into robotics, logistics, and client well being, the place noncontact sensing might allow the detection of microvibrations on human pores and skin for correct pulse and blood-pressure readings.
FMCW Lidar for Precision Manufacturing
The corporate’s core FMCW structure, initially developed for long-range 4D lidar for automobiles, may be adjusted via software program and optics for extremely exact motion sensing at shut vary in manufacturing, in response to Rezk. This flexibility means the system can monitor extraordinarily gradual actions, all the way down to fractions of a millimeter per second, in a manufacturing unit setting, or it could actually monitor sooner movement over longer distances in different purposes.
By avoiding bodily contact, Eve 1V eliminates put on and tear, slippage, contamination, or the necessity for bodily entry to the half. “That delivers three sensible benefits in a manufacturing unit: One, maintenance-free operation with no measuring wheels to exchange or recalibrate; two, materials friendliness—you possibly can measure delicate, smooth, or textured surfaces with out threat of injury, and three, operational robustness—no slippage errors and fewer stoppages for service,” Rezk says. Put collectively, meaning extra uptime, regular throughput, and fewer scrap, he provides.
When measuring velocity, engineers usually depend on considered one of three instruments: encoders, laser velocimeters, or camera-based methods. Every has its strengths and its drawbacks. Conventional encoders are low-cost however can put on down over time. Laser-based velocity-measurement methods, whereas exact, are typically massive and costly, making them troublesome to implement extensively. And camera-based approaches can work for sure inspection duties, however they normally require markers, managed lighting, and sophisticated processing to measure velocity precisely.
Rezk says that the Eve 1V system presents a stability of those choices. It supplies exact and constant velocity measurements with out contacting materials, making it compact, secure, and easy to put in. Its outputs are comparable with current encoder methods, and since it doesn’t depend on bodily contact, it requires minimal upkeep.
This method helps lower down on wasted vitality from slippage, eliminates the necessity for upkeep tied to components that put on out, and finally lowers long-term working prices—particularly compared with conventional contact-based methods or costly laser choices.
This technique avoids stitching collectively frame-by-frame comparisons and resists interference from daylight, reflections, or ambient mild. Constructed on silicon photonics, it scales from micrometer-level sensing to millimeter-level precision over longer ranges. The result’s clear, repeatable knowledge with minimal noise—outperforming legacy lidar and camera-based methods.
Aeva is anticipating to start full manufacturing of the Eve 1V in early 2026. The Eve 1V reveal follows a recent partnership with LG Innotek, a elements subsidiary of South Korea’s LG Group, beneath which Aeva will provide its Atlas Extremely 4D lidar for cars, with plans to broaden the expertise into consumer electronics, robotics, and industrial automation.
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