Cognigear
Engineering & Architecture

Sensor Suite & Sensor Fusion Design

Select and configure LiDAR/camera/radar/GNSS/IMU for your vehicles and sites, with fusion architecture and coverage analysis.

Timeline
5 Weeks to Value
Typical Engagement
$50k–$150k
Focus Areas
Haul trucks, Excavators, Inspection robots

Sensor Suite & Sensor Fusion Design

Define the eyes and ears of your autonomous machine. Select the right sensor mix to ensure robust perception in your specific operating environment.

  • Eliminate blind spots with rigorous coverage analysis
  • Balance performance vs. cost trade-offs (LiDAR vs. Camera vs. Radar)
  • Design sensor fusion architectures that can handle sensor failures and environmental noise

Who this is for

Hardware Engineers, Perception Leads, and Product Managers at:

  • Equipment manufacturers designing "autonomy-ready" machines
  • Retrofit kit integrators
  • Mining and industrial operators specifying vehicle requirements

Operational context

This engagement focuses on:

  • Sensors – LiDAR (solid state / spinning), Radar (Imaging / traditional), Cameras (RGB / Thermal), GNSS/RTK, IMU
  • Environments – Handling challenging conditions: dust, fog, direct sunlight, absolute darkness, vibration
  • Mounting – Placement optimization on the vehicle for coverage and protection

Trigger phrases you might be saying

  • “We can’t see pedestrians when the truck turns because of the blind spot.”
  • “Our LiDARs are getting clogged with dust and mud constantly.”
  • “GPS is useless in our indoor warehouse; what do we do?”
  • “We need to reduce the hardware cost per vehicle by 30%.”

Business outcomes

  • Validated sensor layout ensuring 360° (or required) coverage for safety and operation
  • Optimized Bill of Materials (BOM) fitting your target unit economics
  • Robust perception foundation that minimizes "garbage in" for your software stack
  • Reduced maintenance burden through practical mounting and cleaning strategies

What we deliver

  • Sensor trade study and selection report
  • Detailed sensor layout / mounting diagrams (CAD overlays)
  • Field of View (FoV) coverage analysis simulation
  • Sensor fusion architecture recommendation (Early vs. Late fusion)
  • Data bandwidth and power budget calculations

How it works

  1. Analyze – Define the Operational Design Domain (ODD) and object detection requirements
  2. Select & Place – Iteratively select sensors and place them on the vehicle model
  3. Validate – Simulate coverage and analyze blind spots against safety requirements

Timeline & effort

  • Duration: 4-8 weeks
  • Client time: Hardware integration reviews, reviewing coverage heatmaps
  • Data: Vehicle CAD models, ODD specifications, target object lists

Pricing bands

Fixed-fee: $50k–$150k, depending on:

  • Number of vehicle types
  • Complexity of the environment (need for thermal/radar redundancy)
  • Depth of fusion algorithm design support requested

Tech stack & integrations

We have experience with major sensor vendors:

  • LiDAR: Velodyne, Ouster, Hesai, Luminar, Sick
  • Radar: Continental, Aptiv, Texas Instruments, Arbe
  • Camera: Basler, FLIR, econ systems
  • Positioning: NovAtel, Trimble, Swift Navigation, Xsens

Risks & safeguards

We explicitly design for:

  • Degraded modes – ensuring the system knows when a sensor is blocked or failed
  • Environmental hardening – selecting IP67/69K rated components and vibration-proof mounting
  • Calibration – designing layouts that hold calibration longer and are easier to recalibrate
  • Supply chain – recommending sensors with stable availability and long lifecycles

Site examples

  • Underground Mine (Canada) – Designed a sensor suite relying on thermal cameras and high-definition radar to operate in zero-light, high-dust conditions where traditional LiDAR struggled.
  • Yard Truck Retrofit (USA) – Optimized a low-cost sensor suite for a logistics yard truck, achieving L4 capabilities in a geofenced area with a BOM cost under $15k per vehicle.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use our existing sensors? Yes, we can analyze the coverage of your current suite and recommend additions or repositioning to meet autonomy goals.

Do you do the mechanical design for the brackets? We provide the placement and orientation requirements (xyz, pitch/roll/yaw). We can collaborate with your mechanical team who designs the actual brackets.

Does this include the fusion software? We design the architecture (how to fuse). Writing the specific C++/CUDA sensor fusion code is usually part of a "Perception & Localization Stack" implementation engagement, though we can prototype it here.


Target KPIs

  • Field of View (FoV) coverage
  • Detection range (at defined confidence)
  • Sensor uptime / reliability
  • Total BOM cost
  • Calibration time

Deployed Environments

Dusty minesNight operationsRain/SnowIndoor warehouses

Ready to start?

Book a 15-minute technical scoping call to discuss your fleet requirements.

Book Scoping Call

Related Services