On 21 April 2026, RoboSense held its Tech Day in Shenzhen and for the first time laid out a systematic chip roadmap. Two flagship SPAD-SoCs on its new “Genesis” digital architecture debuted: the Phoenix line for monolithic native ultra-high line count, and the Peacock line for all-solid-state high-resolution arrays. Both reach mass production in 2026.
The Phoenix chip is the world’s first monolithically integrated 2,160-line automotive-grade SPAD-SoC, its point cloud finer than a 4-megapixel camera. The Peacock chip is the highest-spec mass-producible all-solid-state array SPAD-SoC, with a 640 by 480 dense SPAD array delivering VGA-class 3D perception.
Chief executive Qiu Chunchao framed the bet plainly: “Digital foundation, image-oriented direction, chips define the future. RoboSense aims not just to participate in this era, but to define the new epoch of 3D perception.”
The Genesis architecture
The Genesis architecture, named Eocene, is a continuously evolving SPAD-SoC platform spanning automotive, robotics, industrial and consumer electronics. Its four layers: a 28-nanometre automotive process shrinking core area 40 per cent and power 30 per cent, with third-generation SPAD photon detection at a world-leading 45 per cent; a core compute layer with a 4,320-core array processing 495 billion point samples per second; an algorithm layer with an anti-interference engine at 99.9 per cent; and a safety layer with ASIL B rating for minus 40 to 125 degrees C.
Phoenix and Peacock: a widening gap
Phoenix uses single-chip, single-optical-path design with 2,160 native receive channels and 2,160 by 1,900 resolution, seeing a 13 by 17 centimetre box at 150 metres and ranging to 600 metres. A 4-megapixel LiDAR built on it has won a tier-one OEM designation for 2026 production. Peacock’s 640 by 480 array gives a 180 by 135 degree field of view, detects as close as 5 centimetres, aligns frame rate with cameras at 10 to 30 Hz, and improves millimetre precision sixfold. Qiu called Peacock “launch equals mass production”, with volume shipments in the third quarter.
Toward colour 3D vision
RoboSense showed a 2K near-infrared image captured directly by the Phoenix chip, with grey and depth output from the same source at 2,160 by 1,900. The company said it is “probably the first time in human history a 2K image taken by a SPAD chip is shown”. Its Active Camera platform still fuses high-resolution CMOS with its own SPAD; a true RGBD sensor is promised by the end of 2027, where SPAD may echo CMOS and spawn a new super-sensor category.
From Phoenix’s OEM win to Peacock’s early deliveries, RoboSense’s chip strategy is entering a scale-delivery flywheel. The two chips cover ultra-high linear and all-solid-state arrays, widening the technology gap in both automotive and robotics. The long bet: just as CMOS put cameras everywhere, SPAD will make 3D perception as ubiquitous, in every car, every robot and every physical-AI terminal.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original OFweek report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience.