Voyant Photonics, the leader in chip-scale frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) LiDAR, today announced its Helium™ Platform of fully solid-state LiDAR sensors and modules. The solution is built on a silicon photonics chip, enabling a breakthrough architecture designed to deliver unprecedented reliability, integration, and performance for industrial automation, robotics, and mobile autonomy.
Image Credit: Voyant Photonics
Leveraging Voyant’s proprietary Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC), Helium offers camera-like simplicity and unmatched flexibility. Helium uses a dense two-dimensional photonic focal plane array with fully integrated 2D on-chip beam steering – eliminating all unreliable scanning methods: MEMS, mirrors, and resulting in no moving parts. The FMCW LiDAR chip leverages a two-dimensional array of surface emitters to create a fully solid-state LiDAR in an ultra-compact, rugged design. Helium also supports multi-sensor configurations, combining, for instance, a wide-FoV short-range and narrow-FoV long-range sensing in one system – delivering the most versatile and cost-effective LiDAR solution for advanced perception applications.
Helium first prototype release will be demonstrated at Voyant’s booth (LVCC, West Hall, Booth #4875) at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, January 6-9, marking a major milestone in advancing silicon-photonics LiDAR from R&D into high-volume systems that are proliferating Physical AI.
“Helium represents the next step in our mission to deliver the most affordable high performance LiDAR sensor ever,” said Voyant CEO Clément Nouvel. “Industrial and consumer markets demand sensors that are small, cost efficient, and highly reliable. Helium provides all of that while delivering performance that unlocks new classes of intelligent machines.”
A Flexible Platform to Move Solid-State LiDAR Forward
Helium extends the technology foundation proven in Voyant’s Carbon™ product line, bringing full two-dimensional beam steering to a silicon-photonics platform for the first time. The result is a compact, high-precision 4D sensor that meets the highest industry standards for safety and reliability.
Key advantages include:
- True solid-state - no MEMS, polygon scanners, or rotating assemblies
- High-resolution FPA architecture spanning from 12,000 pixels to over 100,000 pixels
- Long-range FMCW performance, per-pixel radial velocity
- Software-defined LiDAR (SDL) enabling adaptive scan patterns and region of interest
- Ultra Compact Size -as small as a matchbox (<150 g mass and <50 cm³ volume), ideal for drones, mobile robots, and compact industrial systems
Field of view and range can be tailored with different lenses, and the platform scales from core module options to fully enclosed sensor. Helium is built on a 2D array of surface-emitting photonic antennas combined with a fixed lens and integrated electronics, forming a rugged module ideal for embedded perception.
With no moving parts and monolithic photonic integration, Helium offers an estimated 20× improvement in MTBF over legacy ToF LiDAR architectures – a critical reliability requirement for high-duty-cycle industrial fleets.
Engineered for Scalable Manufacturing
As with the Carbon family, Helium is built entirely on Voyant’s leading proprietary silicon-photonics platform, enabling new levels of performance and integration. This deep integration eliminates the unreliable optical alignments that limit traditional TOF LiDAR manufacturability. Helium leverages the same mature photonics foundry ecosystem as the optical datacom industry – allowing Voyant to scale production toward semiconductor-class cost structures.
From Carbon to Helium - Voyant Advances a Modular LiDAR Platform for Broader Adoption
Voyant established the company’s leadership in compact, cost-optimized FMCW sensing for compute-constrained platforms with its first-generation Carbon™ family, extended last week with the new Carbon 32 and Carbon 64 variants. Helium builds directly on these advances, expanding the architecture from 1D to 2D on-chip beam steering, with higher resolution and a fully solid-state scan engine. Voyant now enables OEMs to integrate its sensing technology directly into their machines by offering module-only access along with full design-in support. This allows partners to build customized, high-performance sensor solutions tailored to their exact requirements
Helium sensors and modules will be available with multiple resolution and range configurations, supporting a wide choice of field-of-view options – from ultra-wide coverage approaching 180° down to narrower, long-range targeting optics. These modular variants enable OEMs and developers to select and integrate lenses that best suit their application, allowing LiDAR architectures to be tailored for mobile robots, material-handling systems, smart infrastructure, and emerging edge-compute platforms.
Early Access Program
Voyant is opening early access to Helium for select OEMs and automation partners. Early collaborators will engage directly with Voyant’s engineering teams to explore custom chip resolution, FoVs, module configurations, multi-sensor fusion architectures, and software-defined scanning features.