Vision Systems

Global Drone Market to Reach More Than US$140 Billion by 2036

Drones have transitioned from experimental tools into essential infrastructure across agriculture, logistics, energy, security, and public-sector operations. According to the newly released IDTechEx report "Drones Market 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities", the global drone market, including consumer, commercial, and defense platforms, is projected to grow from approximately US$69 billion in 2026 to US$147.8 billion by 2036, corresponding to a 7.9% CAGR.

AGC: FIR Transparent Windshield

This profile analyzes AGC's FIR (far infrared) transparent windshield technology, enabling thermal cameras to be installed behind the windshield.

AdaSky

IDTechEx spoke to AdaSky about its thermal cameras for automotive applications, including ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and autonomous driving, as well as its thermal camera design.

Lynred: Thermal Cameras for Automotive

Lynred is a company based out of France that produces thermal cameras for the automotive industry, specifically for night vision, ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and fully autonomous vehicle systems.

Raytron

Raytron supplies thermal imaging cameras to the automotive industry for ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and autonomous driving.

Bayflex Solutions

Bayflex Solutions is a printed and flexible electronics testing and automation service supplier based in the San Francisco bay area, California. Bayflex provides off-the-shelf and custom flexible electronics testing, with interchangeable mechatronics and hostile environment integration. Bayflex provides testing solutions into flexible display and electronics, wearable devices, e-textiles, medical and automobile industries. IDTechEx spoke with Bayflex CEO Eisuke Tsuyuzaki.

The Rise of Collaborative Robots: Technical and Commercial Insights

Collaborative robots (cobots), driven by AI, machine vision, and modular designs, are revolutionizing smart factories by enhancing human-robot collaboration, achieving 95%+ accuracy in tasks, and targeting a US$29.8 billion market by 2035.

Collaborative Robots Drive Workforce Return in Auto Industry

Collaborative robots (cobots) are reshaping automotive manufacturing by enabling safe, flexible, and efficient human-robot collaboration across tasks like assembly, screwing, and polishing, thanks to advanced force sensing, AI-driven vision, and intuitive programming. As electric vehicle production grows and factories seek greater agility, cobots offer a scalable solution, with their market projected to expand significantly through 2045.

Emerging Smart Sensor Applications in Industrial Internet of Things

Industrial Internet of Things sensor technology (IIoT) seeks to enable greater industrial automation, improved worker safety, and streamlined maintenance planning. From cameras, LiDAR, and radar for machine vision in robotics, to skin patches and miniaturized gas sensors in smart personal protection equipment, emerging IIoT applications present growth opportunities for a variety of sensor technologies.

Hinalea Imaging

Hinalea Imaging is a hyperspectral imaging technology provider founded in 2024 and based in CA, USA. Hinalea is a spin-out of the hyperspectral imaging business unit from TruTag Technologies and provides high-resolution, handheld, autonomous hyperspectral cameras. Hinalea aims to provide imaging solutions to the medical diagnostics, precision agriculture, food safety, and consumer goods markets. IDTechEx spoke with European Sales Director, Kevin Lynch, at the SPIE Sensors + Imaging exhibition in Edinburgh, UK.

ADAS & Autonomous Cars: A US$500 Million Opportunity for LWIR Cameras

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is one of the most important ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) features a vehicle can have. Studies have shown that pedestrian crash risk is reduced by 25-27% and pedestrian injury crash risk by 29-30% through the implementation of AEB.

Teledyne FLIR

This profile focuses on Teledyne FLIR's VOx thermal cameras in the automotive market.

Ambarella

Ambarella is a fabless semiconductor company, based in Silicon Valley. It has a long history of designing chips for video processing, used in applications like digital camcorders and surveillance systems. It is now embracing AI in its products and enabling many new applications in the video processing space with its edge AI chips. IDTechEx visited Ambarella in Santa Clara where they discussed Ambarella's automotive technologies.

Electromagnetic Metamaterials Market to Approach US$15B by 2034

Metamaterials use regular engineered patterns of subwavelength structures to interact with waves. Electromagnetic metamaterials promise to have transformative effects within the fields of optics and telecommunications. They could make biometric recognition cheaper and more accurate, make virtual reality more immersive and comfortable, and facilitate high-speed mobile internet with zero signal blackspots, yet adoption is in its infancy.

Here's Why the SDV Market Will Be Worth US$700 Billion by 2034

The SDV and AI Cars market is set to be worth over US$700 billion by 2034, representing around 20% of the global car market, according to IDTechEx's "Software-Defined Vehicles, Connected Cars, and AI in Cars 2024-2034" report.

Hailo

Hailo is an Israeli start-up that designs artificial intelligence (AI) inference chips for edge devices. IDTechEx spoke with Yosi Brosh, Product Marketing Manager.