Luminar has already worked with Mercedes-Benz and other automakers, including Volvo and Nissan, to refine its products for on-road use.
The Florida-based company's LiDAR (Light, Detection and Ranging) system uses lasers to create a three-dimensional map of the vehicle's surroundings, allowing accurate detection of objects ahead even in bad weather.
Luminar claims it can detect debris up to 250 meters away and objects up to 500 meters away.
The plan involves the development of the system for use on the safety car in 2024 and, if the system is deemed satisfactory by the FIA, it will be introduced at race weekends, providing additional information on track conditions to race control.
“The sensor would create a real-time 3D map of the environment in front of the safety car, significantly improving the driver's ability to assess the situation on the track while maintaining the required high speeds,” explains Mercedes.
The equipment will be incorporated into the roof of the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series which acts as a safety car.
Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff highlighted the potential of the Luminar system: “I have been very impressed with their journey so far, their technology and the work they have done.”
“This is a truly exciting and innovative sector that will have far-reaching implications for the automotive industry and mobility in general.”
Our collaboration will use the initial development work between Luminar and Mercedes-Benz as a starting point, and I'm excited to see what we can do with it.”
“Luminar's culture of innovation and entrepreneurship fits incredibly well with our ethics and values, so it's a natural collaboration.”
Markus Schafer, Chief Technology Officer at Mercedes-Benz AG, added: “The collaboration with our F1 team is a natural extension of the existing collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Luminar to help realize our vision of a driving accident-free in Mercedes series cars.”
“Mercedes-Benz has always been at the forefront of innovation and safety and we look forward to continuing our development efforts with Luminar to bring this technology to our F1 team.”
Luminar sees F1 as an ideal showcase for its products: “Luminar's technology has always been about pushing the limits of performance while improving automotive safety,” said founder and CEO, Austin Russell.
“Through F1, Mercedes-AMG is taking it to the extreme on a global stage of automotive enthusiasts.”
“The same cutting-edge technology developed in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz for its production cars will be shared with the Mercedes F1 team, demonstrating performance and safety benefits at any speed, from city to motorway to track “.
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