Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is similar to radar or sonar, it uses the reflection time of a primary beam to estimate distances to objects. LIDAR was first invented in the 1960s and has recently gained popularity in autonomous vehicles. The image captured below by one of our engineers in San Francisco shows the LIDAR system on a Waymo test vehicle. You can see a portion of the laser pattern (reflected back at the Waymo car) highlighted as red dots.

The laser pattern is necessarily coarse, given the state of the latest LIDAR technology available today. Consider that as of 2021, there was an estimated 30x more industry investment in AI than in LIDAR. With rapid advances in AI, we can now estimate object distances within a foot using vision only, not nearly as good as LIDAR but already sufficiently good for self-driving. Also, because of eye safety concerns, LIDAR has a limited range in practice. LIDAR can't detect the road surface ahead past 150 feet and fails in foggy conditions or during heavy rain.

For all the reasons mentioned above, we believe LIDAR offers no practical benefit for self-driving applications. In our view, the manufacturers offering LIDAR today see it as a helpful marketing tool or differentiator when competing with the current market leader Tesla, which does not utilize LIDAR at all. Elon Musk most famously said in 2019, "LIDAR is a fool's errand… Anyone relying on lidar is doomed." We couldn't agree more!

[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].

Hello! Recently, a change was made to the Epilog offering. Here's an excerpt describing the specifics of the change:

Campaign is extending its end date by 60 days

When live offerings undergo changes like these on StartEngine, the SEC requires that certain investments be reconfirmed. If your investment requires reconfirmation, you will be contacted by StartEngine via email with further instructions.

AI is everywhere now, with experts still determining where it will eventually lead. At Epilog, we see AI as an excellent augmentation of human capability. A major technology-driven trend to affect every type of human interaction in the coming years. We were curious to know how AI sees Epilog.

The images below were generated from the corresponding captions using AI. AI imagery uses a "generator" to create new images and a "discriminator" to decide which created images are considered successful. Examples of text-to-image models include OpenAI DALL-E and Google Brain, with "Thinking Machines" using supercomputers for this purpose as early as the 1980s.

"Epilog AI"

"Self-driving car"

"Driver monitoring system"

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been steadily becoming the most important automotive industry event since 2015. The last time Epilog exhibited at CES (and simultaneously at Jabil's booth) was in 2019, prior to Covid. We are glad CES has returned this year despite lingering risks and mass cancellations last year. 

Here are some of the noteworthy automotive highlights related to Epilog from CES.

Sony Honda: The Afeela concept introduced by Sony and Honda Mobility is more Playstation than Civic. There are 45 sensors in the Afeela concept, about half of them being cameras. If this vehicle goes to production (projected 2026), it will be significantly simplified. For Epilog, Sony remains a valued partner/supplier of advanced sensors, and we plan to resume collaboration with Honda later this year.

Image Credit: Sony Honda Mobility

Continental: Continental is a Tier-1 automotive OEM based in Germany. We met the former Continental CEO Elmar Degenhart at CES in 2019 and explored a collaboration in developing next-generation vehicle vision technology. Continental Autonomous Mobility Head Hans Feigel presenting at CES 2023 said "at the moment, it's not about hype; it's about execution and bringing safety features on the road to support the drivers." He anticipates Full Self Driving (FSD) functions in fleets first for fixed operation (A to B) in 3-4 years, followed by Robotaxis and road cars eventually. We couldn't agree more, and that's why we created Sidecar and look forward to working with them again in the future.

Illustration credit: Continental

Bosch: Bosch is a Tier-1 automotive OEM. Bosch introduced the "RideCare Companion" at CES 2023. The device was designed with ride-hailing drivers in mind and includes an interior camera and exterior dashcam with a display on the front to let drivers and riders know the service is active. SideCar provides significantly more advanced functionality than RideCare, most importantly driver assistance. RideCare is an interesting product since SideCar can be considered an alternative or enhanced product option for the same use. We look forward to a potential collaboration with Bosch in the near future.

Illustration credit: Bosch

Bosch:  Bosch also introduced the "Automated Valet Parking" at CES 2023. This has similar functionality to the Summon feature introduced by Tesla in 2016. SideCar does not currently support a similar feature, but this is planned when surround cameras become standard in more vehicles.

Illustration credit: Bosch

BMW: The BMW concept is called the iVision "Dee" (Digital Emotional Experience). The claimed innovation here is the fully immersive cockpit (entirely blocking the road ahead) and the vehicle's ability to change colors. We presented BMW iVentures in 2017 and did not see a fit in their future roadmap - that remains the same. 

Illustration credit: BMW

As the holidays approach, we hope everyone finds time to enjoy the season. Throughout 2022, our team worked together to accomplish significant milestones. 

With the year coming to a close, we want to thank our awesome investors and supporters! We wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season.

Elon explains that manufacturing is the hardest part of product development. He estimates that anywhere between 10x–100x more effort goes into a production system compared to the design process. This is in the context of the Raptor rocket engine, but the concept applies to most manufacturing processes.

Although Sidecar may be less complex than a Raptor engine, our goal is to manufacture 100x-1000x more units. Securing the supply chain for even our initial batch of 1000 units in the Covid environment has been challenging and took nearly a year to complete. The good news is once the production flow is established, scaling up by 10x-100x units will require less effort by engaging a manufacturing partner like Jabil.

image credit: Tim Dodd, licensed from everydayastronaut.com

Today is the last day to invest during Epilog's bonus share period for the current funding round! First week investors received an extra 10% bonus shares as an early-bird special, and today is the last day to earn an extra 5% bonus shares. All previous investors in Epilog will receive an extra 5% on top of the time-based perk.

Reasons to  invest:

• Over $4.5M invested to date, we are in the process of manufacturing the first 1,000 units to sell in 2023.
• We believe Epilog has developed and patented super-resolution vision technologies that can disrupt numerous fast-growing markets.
• Our IP position includes 9 patents granted. Epilog’s products could address multi-billion dollar markets with a significant cost-performance lead over the competition.