All About Circuits, Planet Analog (EDN), and The Ojo-Yoshida Report (OYR) were among the trade publications and analyst firms that attended private briefings with Co-Founder and CEO Eric Aguilar in anticipation of Omnitron’s recent announcement of a new process for a MEMS scanning mirror. The company’s new topology for MEMS changes the process technology and packaging techniques of MEMS, producing measurable improvements in size, cost, robustness, reliability, manufacturability, and time to market.
The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and Omnitron’s proof is a validated process for a fast, rugged, low-cost MEMS scanning mirror that solves the most vexing problems of LiDARs used in robotics, autonomous vehicles and drones. With LiDAR subsystems representing a $2.3B market by 2026—according to Yole Group—Omnitron is targeting a healthy market with its first commercial offering.
Curious about what the press said about Omnitron’s launch? Some snippets of coverage follow:
Jeff Child of All About Circuits spoke with Eric Aguilar about Omnitron’s approach:
With all the problems of today’s LiDAR mirror alternatives in mind, Omnitron developed a 3D MEMS process technology that enables a scanning mirror suited to next-gen LiDAR needs. “We’ve developed a 3D MEMS processor and it is, in a sense, a new topology in MEMS,” says Aguilar. “Just like you have a new technology node for semiconductors, this is a fundamental new topology in MEMS.”
Clive “Max” Maxfield of EEJournal put his unique spin on the Omnitron story. In citing Yole Group’s market data on the 2025 sensor, MEMS and LiDAR markets, Max wrote:
The interesting thing about all of this is that this data does not account for the potential disruption that may be caused by Omnitron’s new patent-pending process. First, the availability of lower-cost, higher-resolution LiDAR sensors could significantly expand the overall LiDAR market. Second, Omnitron’s processes are not only focused (no pun intended) on mirrors, but are instead applicable to MEMS in general, which could dramatically increase the MEMS market as a whole.
What motivated Eric Aguilar to target LiDARs? Carolyn Mathas of Planet Analog (EDN) discovered that Eric’s experience as an end-customer inspired him to solve LiDAR’s scanning problems as an engineer.Carolyn wrote:
When Omnitron Co-Founder and CEO Eric Aguilar worked at companies purchasing LiDAR systems, and got involved in autonomous navigation, he found that the root cause of problems in these systems is that he would have to replace mirrors and motors, causing a nightmare from an operational standpoint. He said, “If I owned a car and would have to replace LiDAR or anything every three months, I’d find that untenable.”
As a journalist who always digs beneath the surface, Junko Yoshida of OYRasked Eric to explain Omnitron’s uniquely differentiated technology, Eric identified three fundamental changes in MEMS process. Junko wrote, “Those include trenches five times deeper, enabling step scanning, wide-angle and linear articulation; a ten-fold capacitance boost, providing more force, less inertia and higher speed; and an offset structure that simplifies system-level alignment while allowing wider mechanical articulation.”
Coming Soon: Coverage with an Automotive Slant
Eric spoke with Megan Lampinen of Automotive World about how Omnitron is using its expertise in MEMS to create a more affordable and reliable LiDAR system for ADAS. In addition, he briefed Sally Cole Johnson of Laser Focus World about the long-awaited potential of MEMS to address the challenges and limitations of scanning mirrors. Stay tuned for these articles in in early 2023.
Contact us at info@omnitronsensors.com to learn more about how our new topology for MEMS can improve the reliability, robustness, time-to-market, and cost of your device.
