- Hesai will supply LiDARs for food delivery giant Meituan's drones, marking a major breakthrough in markets beyond automotive LiDAR.
- Hesai plans to commence mass production and delivery of its FTX LiDAR sensor in 2026.
Chinese LiDAR sensor manufacturer Hesai Group (NASDAQ: HSAI) will supply LiDARs for food delivery giant Meituan's drones, marking a major breakthrough in markets beyond automotive LiDAR.
Hesai and Meituan reached a strategic partnership on December 19 to supply the latter with its second-generation pure solid-state perception and positioning LiDAR FTX, according to a statement released today.
The FTX boasts over double the resolution of its predecessor while weighing 66 percent less, reducing drone integration complexity and manufacturing costs, Hesai said.
The LiDAR's ultra-wide field of view enables precise detection of small obstacles within its space, significantly enhancing the drone's environmental perception capabilities during adverse conditions like nighttime and smog, the company said.
Hesai plans to commence mass production and delivery of the FTX in 2026, the company said.
Meituan launched its fourth-generation long-range drone, the M-Drone 4L, on December 19, announcing it had already operated 65 routes across multiple cities and completed 740,000 commercial orders.
The M-Drone 4L comes standard with LiDAR for perception and positioning. Its sensing system integrates 10 sensors, including the pure solid-state perception and positioning LiDAR FTX, Hesai said.
With the assistance of LiDAR, visual perception, and the GNSS navigation satellite system, the drone achieves precise positioning and navigation around the clock, enhancing nighttime delivery safety, according to Hesai.
Without LiDAR, drones cannot deliver more versatile nighttime low-altitude logistics services, said Mao Yinian, vice president of Meituan and head of the drone business department.
Thanks to LiDAR integration and breakthroughs in navigation positioning technology, Meituan can now perform nighttime navigation without relying on satellite or visual navigation, Mao said.
At the launch event, Mao demonstrated a case study of the drone's nighttime navigation. With satellite and visual navigation completely disabled and relying solely on LiDAR positioning, the drone maintained a navigation positional deviation within 0.25 percent.
Founded in 2014, Hesai is a LiDAR solutions provider primarily serving automotive manufacturers.
It was listed on the Nasdaq on February 9, 2023, and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on September 16 this year.
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