page_title: Velodyne LiDAR
section_title: Partners and customers
hierarchical_section_title: Velodyne LiDAR / Partners and customers
caption_attribution_description: English: A Velodyne Lidar Alpha Puck lidar sensor on a Voyage vehicle.
context_page_description: Velodyne Lidar is a Silicon Valley-based lidar technology company spun off from Velodyne Acoustics. As of August 2016, the company worked with 25 self-driving car programs. Velodyne Lidar ships sensors to mobility industry customers for testing and commercial use.
context_section_description: In 2010, Google (now Alphabet) began testing self-driving cars on the streets in the San Francisco Bay Area using Velodyne's Lidar technology. Alphabet's first self-driving car prototype (built on Toyota's Prius model) used Velodyne's HDL-64E lidar sensor. Since then, Alphabet has stopped using Velodyne sensors in its vehicles.
  In 2012, Velodyne Lidar signed a contract with Caterpillar for a supply of lidar sensors to be used for off-road vehicles. These sensors help Caterpillar map quarries, farms and work sites during construction.
  In 2012 through 2015, Velodyne's spinning HDL-32E sensors have been seen on mobile mapping vehicles by Nokia Here, Microsoft Bing Maps, Tencent, Baidu, and TomTom. Leading mapping providers like Topcon and Leica Geosystems also use Velodyne's scanners for their turnkey mobile solutions.
  In 2016, Ford Motor Company announced that it will expand its fleet of self-driving R&D vehicles and use Velodyne Lidar's Ultra Puck sensors.
  In 2017, Velodyne partnered with Renovo as Reference Lidar provider for AWare automated mobility operating system and with Mercedes-Benz for a Perception System Contract.
  In 2018, the company partnered with Embark, Geodetics, Voyage, Exyn Technologies, Yellowscan, Phoenix LiDAR,  NAVYA, ThorDrive and Postmates. Velodyne Lidar also partnered with Nikon as a new strategic investor with an investment of $25M.
caption: Velodyne Lidar Alpha Puck on a Voyage vehicle
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