Luminar and Zenseact Are Teaming Up to Bring Autonomous Highway Driving to Consumer Cars

“I’ll see your Cruise Control...and raise you autonomous driving on highways.” —Luminar and Zenseact, essentially.

On Thursday, the lidar tech company, which SPAC’d in December, and Zenseact, Volvo’s self-driving software unit, made an announcement: They’re putting their heads—and their tech—together to bring highway autonomy to consumer cars.

Siri, define “highway autonomy”

Luminar and Zenseact’s new system is called Sentinel, and it promises drivers hands-free and eyes-free autonomous driving on highways (or freeways, if you’re in California).

Why this is big: Today’s advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) still require the driver to pay close attention to the vehicle, and manual overrides are common. Luminar and Zenseact are saying their system won’t need the same level of driver supervision.

As with many fledgling business ventures, a parent is the first to believe in the biz plan: Volvo will be Luminar and Zenseact’s initial buyer. Another parent parallel? Volvo will take “full liability” for the autonomous system, reports TechCrunch.

Zoom out: Lately, the majority of the AV industry has been focused on robotaxis or commercial applications. Sentinel, on the other hand, bills itself as the industry’s “first full-stack autonomous system for series production in the industry.”