← Back to work Lidar sensors

Making precision sensors yield at volume.

CompanyVelodyne Lidar
FocusManufacturing / NPI engineering
DomainOptical-mechanical sensor assembly

The problem

A lidar sensor is an unforgiving thing to build: optical, mechanical, and electronic subsystems all have to come together within tight tolerances, and a small alignment error upstream shows up as a failed unit at final test. The challenge is holding that precision while building enough volume to matter.

I worked on the manufacturing and NPI side of that equation — bringing new builds into production and supporting the running line so good design didn't get lost in the transfer to the floor.

What I did

NPI & design-for-manufacturing

Supported the introduction of new sensor builds — feeding manufacturability and assembly feedback back to design, defining assembly and alignment flows, and standing up the processes a new product needs before ramp.

Optical-mechanical assembly & alignment

Developed and tightened the assembly and alignment steps where most of the yield risk lived, building the fixtures and procedures that made a precise operation repeatable across operators.

Production support & defect reduction

Diagnosed line and test failures, traced them to root cause, and drove corrective actions to lift first-pass yield and reduce rework.

+14%
First-pass yield improvement
−31%
Rework rate
6
NPI builds supported

The takeaway

When tolerances are tight, yield is a process problem long before it's a people problem. The leverage was in designing the alignment and assembly steps so the right outcome was the easy one — then proving it with data at final test.

← All work