Optical sensors, spectral detection and LiDAR.
Hesai held the global launch of Kosmo at its Maxwell super factory in Shanghai on October 14, unveiling a 3D world data engine and disclosing that it has entered robotic motion modules and begun commercial deliveries. Li Yifan said that LiDAR units that sold for more than RMB 300,000 back then can now be produced for around $200, with the production cycle shortened to one unit every five to six seconds.
A team from UC Santa Barbara and Caltech published in Optics Letters a chip-scale optical ring laser gyroscope capable of measuring rotations as slow as 37 degrees per hour, approaching Earth's rotation rate of 15 degrees per hour. The device is based on a low-noise Brillouin laser in a silicon nitride waveguide photonic integrated circuit, can be fabricated with standard CMOS processes, requires only milliwatt-level optical power, and offers nearly 2,000-fold higher sensitivity than the team's earlier device.
Why we recommend it: Compared with the team's earlier silicon nitride Brillouin gyroscope rated at 72,000 degrees per hour, this is nearly a 2,000-fold improvement, helping gauge how far on-chip optical gyroscopes are from navigation applications.
A team led by the University of Central Florida (UCF) will receive a five-year, $19.2 million grant from the US Army Research Office to study light propagation and control in complex dynamic environments. The project, led by Guifang Li, will explore weak backscattering coherent measurement, inverse methods, AI analysis and multi-plane light conversion, with the goal of measuring and rapidly correcting light field distortions when remote sensors or beacons cannot be placed. Potential applications include directed-energy systems, biological tissue imaging, laser medicine, remote sensing and free-space optical communications.
The article analyzes the computing requirements of vision-only and LiDAR-fusion approaches in autonomous driving, arguing that computing demand is not simply determined by the number of sensors, but by how the perception system processes data and by its algorithm architecture.
Wuhan Yuanxi Photonics has completed an angel funding round worth tens of millions of yuan, with investors including CASSTAR and Hongshan Capital. Founded in late 2025, the company will focus on metasurface optical chip R&D and product introduction, targeting the two major markets of intelligent 3D sensing and data center optical interconnects.
Laser Focus World reports that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen for his work on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which uses light detectors embedded in ice to capture neutrino signals.
A Laser Focus World article notes that optical designs can meet specifications yet still fail at the system level, for example when imaging instrument output is interpreted by algorithms rather than the human eye. The article advocates using virtual prototyping to evaluate system performance before building hardware.
Data from NE Times shows that LiDAR installations in Chinese passenger vehicles reached 525,500 units in August 2026. Hesai installed 182,436 units, just 65 fewer than Huawei, and the two together accounted for 69.4%. The growth logic is extending beyond simply adding vehicle models to multiple LiDARs per vehicle, robot perception and 3D spatial mapping.
Why we recommend it: The original paper provides monthly installation and market share data, useful for assessing the automotive LiDAR market landscape
CCTV host Dong Qian interviewed Xia Haiyun, chairman of Guangzai Technology, an incubatee of the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Mechanics, on the program Trust in China, discussing the path of independent innovation in domestic LiDAR.
Hesai, Seyond and RoboSense successively released financial reports in August. Comparing the three, the article points out that as mass-produced vehicle models, robotics and embodied intelligence become real demand, the growth logic of leading LiDAR companies is diverging.
RoboSense plans to sell its embodied robotics complete-machine business for RMB 59.878 million and focus on supplying key components to robot manufacturers. Seyond has signed a design win with Chuneng Automotive for a forward-facing primary LiDAR, while Hesai has also announced new moves in spatial intelligence.
The Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Machinery will exhibit at CIOE 2026 with its incubated companies from September 9 to 11.
Ozone lidar uses the differential absorption principle for atmospheric monitoring. All-solid-state products are easy to maintain and integrate, and are expected to become mainstream.
In the first half of 2026, RoboSense shipped 719,200 units, up 169.6% year on year, while Seyond shipped 450,900 units, up 364.8%. The article compares the scale, profitability and second growth curves of the three companies.
ams OSRAM reported first-half revenue of EUR 1.601 billion, flat year over year, and adjusted EBITDA of EUR 267 million, with a strategic focus on digital photonics.
Researchers at ETH Zurich are using fiber-optic sensing to detect crevasses in the Gorner Glacier in the Alps.
The Leapmotor A05 launched on August 11, bringing LiDAR to vehicles in the 80,000-yuan class.
LiDAR installations totaled 1.595 million units in 2024 and 3.316 million in 2025; 2.282 million units were installed in the first half of 2026, with Huawei's 896-beam LiDAR becoming the new benchmark.
Ultra-narrow linewidth lasers are used in coherent optical communications and other fields, and domestic production efforts continue to accelerate.
Hesai reported net revenue of RMB 3.028 billion in 2025, and the article discusses its valuation.