Abstract: As the low-altitude economy accelerates its implementation, onsemi and ams OSRAM have explained the changes occurring in the underlying chip systems as UAVs transition from aerial photography tools to applications in industrial inspection, agricultural plant protection, logistics distribution, and eVTOL, focusing on intelligent sensing, intelligent power, dToF, active illumination, and spectral sensing.
In recent years, the low-altitude economy has transitioned from a policy buzzword to the industrial validation stage. UAVs are no longer just consumer-grade aerial photography devices; they are being redefined as productivity tools in scenarios such as architectural surveying and mapping, public safety, agricultural plant protection, logistics distribution, industrial inspection, and even eVTOL. Therefore, discussions on UAV chips cannot be limited to flight control MCUs, main SoCs, or single AI chips. For low-altitude aircraft to enter industrial and urban applications, they must maintain stable operation under conditions such as strong light, nighttime, rain and fog, dust, glass reflection, GPS-restricted environments, high-speed movement, and prolonged operation.
Recently, onsemi and ams OSRAM gave exclusive interviews to eefocus regarding the chip supply chain for the low-altitude economy. From onsemi to ams OSRAM, the two companies have different technological entry points in this field, but they point to the same trend: the low-altitude economy is pushing UAVs from "flying platforms" to "autonomous aerial intelligent agents."
Chip Opportunities in the Low-Altitude Economy: Beyond Flight Control MCUs
In the past, when discussing UAV chips, the most core component was the flight control MCU. It is responsible for attitude calculation, motor control, sensor data acquisition, and underlying real-time response, serving as the foundation for stable UAV flight. During the consumer-grade UAV stage, this understanding was not problematic: as long as the flight control was stable enough, the image transmission was clear enough, and the battery life was long enough, the overall experience could already form differentiation. However, the low-altitude economy is pushing UAVs into more complex industrial scenarios, and a single flight control chip can no longer meet market demands.
onsemi believes that the chip opportunities in the low-altitude economy lie not only in "control" but in the systemic capabilities formed by sensing, power, power electronics, and reliability.
If a mid-to-high-end UAV is disassembled, its chip system can be roughly divided into several layers: The first layer is flight control, including the flight control MCU, main SoC, IMU, GNSS/RTK, and motor control chips, solving the problems of "flying stably" and "positioning accurately." The second layer is environmental sensing, including image sensors, ToF, LiDAR, millimeter-wave radar, active illumination, and spectral sensors, solving the problems of "seeing clearly" and "understanding what is seen." The third layer is communication connectivity, including Wi-Fi, 5G, data transmission, image transmission, and RF front-ends, solving the problems of "staying connected" and "transmitting data back." The fourth layer is energy and power, including ESCs, motor control, MOSFETs, SiC/GaN, PMICs, and BMS, determining whether the UAV can fly long, carry heavy loads, and handle heat. The fifth layer is safety and reliability, including functional safety, data security, redundant sensing, and industrial, automotive, and even aviation-grade certifications.
The complexity of the low-altitude economy precisely stems from the superimposed requirements of these scenarios on chip capabilities. In industrial inspection scenarios, UAVs need to maintain stable imaging in environments with strong light, backlighting, deep shadows, glass reflection, and low nighttime illumination; warehouse inspection and indoor flight often occur in GPS-restricted environments, requiring reliance on visual navigation, depth sensing, and precise hovering; agricultural plant protection requires UAVs to operate in close proximity while identifying crop conditions and controlling costs; logistics distribution and eVTOL further propose requirements for long endurance, high reliability, redundant sensing, and high-voltage power systems. onsemi also mentioned that low-altitude scenarios pose special physical limit requirements for power supply systems, including power safety, discharge rate, charging speed, peak power, and cycle life, all of which need to be re-optimized.
From the perspective of sensing systems, a single sensor is already hard to cover all low-altitude scenarios. onsemi believes that future UAV competition will not just stay on flight control, endurance, and payload, but will shift towards visual systems and sensing capabilities. In unstructured scenarios such as industrial inspection, logistics distribution, and urban low-altitude flight, UAVs need to possess real-time environmental understanding, decision-making planning, and obstacle avoidance capabilities, much like AMRs.
ams OSRAM's judgment also points to the same trend. ams OSRAM believes that the difficulty for UAVs to truly "understand the world" has expanded from single aerial photography to extreme environments such as nighttime, rain and fog, and strong light. Sensors must achieve environmental adaptation and autonomous decision-making under "harsh real-world combat" rather than "ideal laboratory conditions." Under this framework, dToF sensors can be used for hovering, altitude holding, and obstacle avoidance, while ambient light sensors and multispectral sensors can assist cameras in completing white balance, color reproduction, and scene recognition under complex lighting.
Panoramic Table of Mainstream UAV Chip Suppliers, Source: Compiled by eefocus Research Institute
As can be seen from the table above, the low-altitude economy brings not a single-point explosion of a certain type of chip, but an upgrade of the entire UAV electronic system. It is understood that chip segments such as flight control, IMU, GNSS, and motor control are already relatively mature, and new increments are concentrating on two types of systems: one is the sensing system represented by image sensors, dToF, active illumination, and spectral sensing; the other is the energy and power system represented by power devices, power management, and SiC/GaN. These two categories are exactly the directions where onsemi and ams OSRAM are focusing their layouts.
For UAVs to See Clearer and Fly Longer, onsemi Bets on "Sensing + Power"
In the industrial chain of the low-altitude economy, onsemi positions itself as "Sensing + Power."
As the "eyes" of the sensing system, the competition for image sensors is no longer limited to simple imaging but has shifted towards all-weather operation capabilities and high-precision depth sensing. In different scenarios, the problems image sensors need to solve are not the same. During high-speed flight or when capturing fast-moving targets, ordinary rolling shutters are prone to the "jello effect," leading to image distortion and motion artifacts. onsemi's Hyperlux SG series focuses on global shutters, such as the AR0235, which is used to provide more stable input for visual positioning, obstacle avoidance, and target recognition algorithms. For scenarios involving entering and exiting tunnels, traversing forests, and facing strong reflections and deep shadows, the Hyperlux LH series emphasizes HDR capabilities. For example, the AR0822 can preserve details in both bright and dark areas through high dynamic range imaging, helping UAVs avoid missing key visual information under complex lighting conditions.
More notably, SWIR is worth attention. onsemi mentioned that SWIR, by combining colloidal quantum dots with CMOS sensors, possesses strong penetration capabilities, enabling clear imaging in thin fog, smoke and dust, nighttime, and harsh weather. This means that the future of UAV visual systems will not just pursue higher pixels or higher frame rates, but must break through the boundaries of visible light. For tasks such as nighttime inspection, special environmental monitoring, and foreign object detection, SWIR may become one of the important technologies for industrial UAVs to expand their operational boundaries.
Under the trend of multi-camera setups, the division of labor in onsemi's product line is clearer. The Hyperlux SG solves high-speed distortion-free imaging; the Hyperlux LP focuses on low-power rolling shutters; the Hyperlux LH targets high dynamic range and enhanced NIR; the Hyperlux ID is an intelligent iToF global shutter depth sensor for 3D modeling and target detection; and the SWIR ACUROS series is responsible for expanding the sensing boundaries of UAVs beyond visible light. For mid-to-high-end UAVs, more than 10 image sensors may be equipped in the future, responsible for tasks such as aerial photography, obstacle avoidance, positioning, depth sensing, and target recognition. Under this architecture, what customers really care about is no longer which single sensor has the highest performance, but how to achieve a balance among performance, power consumption, cost, and size.
The strategy provided by onsemi is scalable combinations. Customers can select and combine sensors of different grades, from VGA to 20 megapixels, from rolling shutters to global shutters, and from visible light to SWIR, within its product ecosystem according to different scenarios such as consumer-grade aerial photography, industrial inspection, and scientific research exploration. This not only avoids paying excessive premiums for single high-performance components but also reduces the complexity brought by multi-supplier integration. Furthermore, onsemi helps customers complete sensor switching verification, SoC platform docking, and image quality evaluation through development tools such as the PRISM reference module ecosystem, DEMO 3, and DevWareX, thereby shortening prototype iteration and time-to-market.
This systemic capability is even more critical in multi-sensor fusion. onsemi believes that the transition of UAVs from single sensors to multi-sensor fusion is a natural trend in industry development. The reason is simple: a single sensor has physical limitations and cannot cover complex and changeable real-world environments. Different modal data such as visible light, depth information, infrared, and radar need to achieve synchronization, alignment, and fusion at the system level. onsemi mentioned that its "Sensor Hub" architecture integrates serializers and deserializers (SerDes), outputting timing signals synchronously while outputting data, which helps data from different sensors achieve precise time synchronization and spatial alignment at the system level.
Notably, the power consumption of image sensors has a very direct impact on UAV endurance and the thermal design of the whole machine. onsemi pointed out that on UAV platforms, as resolution and frame rates increase, the computational load and power consumption of sensors will significantly increase. Long-term full-load operation not only consumes battery but also brings about temperature rise issues for onboard modules. Therefore, the Hyperlux LP series emphasizes low power consumption and motion wake-up, and the AR2020 also integrates SmartROI technology, allowing the system to filter and output only key areas, thereby reducing computational power, bandwidth, and backend processing pressure.
In terms of power, onsemi believes that UAV technology shares technological homology with fields such as automotive and robotics, but low-altitude flight scenarios pose more extreme physical constraints on devices. In particular, the power supply system is not just about "delivering electricity to the motor," but must be re-optimized around indicators such as power safety, discharge rate, charging speed, peak power, and cycle life.
Facing applications with higher power and higher safety requirements such as eVTOL, onsemi emphasizes its ability to integrate high-voltage silicon carbide (SiC), IGBTs, medium-voltage MOSFETs, and analog mixed-signal drivers to provide high-power-density and high-energy-efficiency power solutions. On the sensing side, onsemi covers different needs from visible light imaging, low-power vision, and depth sensing to short-wave infrared through its image sensor product lines such as Hyperlux SG, Hyperlux LP, Hyperlux LH, Hyperlux ID, and SWIR.
onsemi explicitly mentioned in the interview that eVTOL has extremely high requirements for endurance and payload, which means the power system must achieve extremely high efficiency within limited volume and weight. Traditional silicon-based devices are difficult to meet the requirements. Wide-bandgap semiconductors, with characteristics such as high voltage resistance, low loss, and high-temperature resistance, have become the mainstream choice for power devices. Among them, SiC is more suitable for eVTOL main propulsion motor drives and high-voltage power systems, while GaN is more used in subsystems with higher requirements for high frequency and lightweight, such as low-voltage auxiliary power supplies or communication RF.
Specifically regarding technical challenges, onsemi believes that SiC modular design has become a trend, but airframe inductance control, thermal management system optimization, and high-temperature high-reliability packaging remain the three core challenges. Its SiC power devices feature high breakdown voltage, low conduction loss, and high-temperature resistance, and can operate long-term at a junction temperature of 200°C, fitting core scenarios such as eVTOL main drive inverters and high-voltage DC-DC converters. Through transfer molding, double-sided cooling design, and silver sintering interconnection processes, onsemi attempts to further reduce parasitic inductance and improve heat dissipation performance and power density.
However, for the low-altitude economy to truly enter high-reliability scenarios, it must still cross the threshold of certification and reliability. onsemi mentioned that consumer-grade, industrial-grade, automotive-grade, and even aviation-grade are not just different application scenarios but also correspond to differences in the design, manufacturing, and certification of semiconductor devices. For eVTOL power modules, higher junction temperatures and wider temperature ranges are usually required, involving avionics standards such as DO-178C, DO-254, and DO-160G, as well as airworthiness certification requirements. Currently, onsemi's mass-produced power chips and modules mainly pass the AQG324 automotive-grade reliability test certification and comply with the ISO 26262 functional safety standard; however, eVTOL airworthiness certification still adopts a case-by-case approach. In the future, it will still be necessary to combine special notices and airworthiness regulations from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to establish traceable and verifiable reliability testing standards.
How ams OSRAM Enables UAVs to "See More Accurately" in Complex Environments
ams OSRAM's positioning in the low-altitude economy is a sensing chain composed of "distance, light source, and light environment": the TMF8829 is responsible for precise ranging and obstacle avoidance; the OSLON and OSCONIQ series LEDs are responsible for active illumination; multispectral sensors such as the TCS3448 are responsible for light environment understanding; and VCSEL infrared light sources can be used for 3D sensing, long-distance, or night vision illumination. ams OSRAM also clearly judges that over the next 3 to 5 years, the transition of UAV optical sensing systems from single-point sensors to multi-sensor matrices has become a clear trend, with its significant feature being the "hardwareization of sensor fusion."
For a manufacturer that has long been deeply engaged in lighting and sensing, the low-altitude economy poses new systemic requirements for optical sensing capabilities. From dToF ranging and active illumination to ambient light and multispectral sensing, ams OSRAM attempts to enable UAVs to continuously obtain reliable environmental information in complex scenarios such as nighttime, rain and fog, strong light, reflection, and dust.
As a high-resolution dToF sensor, the core advantage of the TMF8829 lies in upgrading the resolution of traditional dToF sensors from 8x8 zones to 48x32 zones, dividing the field of view into up to 1536 zones. For UAVs, this means it can not only judge "whether there are obstacles ahead" but also capture spatial differences more finely. Especially in scenarios such as indoor flight, warehouse inspection, building facade inspection, and close-proximity plant protection operations, this fine ranging capability can directly affect hovering stability, obstacle avoidance reliability, and close-proximity operation safety.
Specifically for indoor flight and warehouse inspection, the value of the TMF8829 lies in its miniaturization, high precision, and independence. It features a 0.25 mm step accuracy, a maximum detection distance of 11 meters, and a compact size of 5.7mm x 2.9mm x 1.5mm. These characteristics enable it to undertake short-distance ranging and hovering assistance tasks without relying on cameras. For warehouse environments with narrow spaces, complex obstacles, and GPS restrictions, dToF is not a substitute for image sensors but provides supplementary sensing in the distance dimension.
In building facade inspection and close-proximity plant protection operations, the difficulty lies not only in the distance itself but also in environmental interference. UAVs may face issues such as glass curtain wall reflection, water surface reflection, rain and fog, dust, cover glass stains, and airframe vibration. ams OSRAM emphasizes that the TMF8829 maintains ranging stability by constructing a reflection feature map of light pulses rather than relying on a single signal to locate measurement points, even when the cover glass is stained or encounters interference from rain, fog, or dust. Its full histogram output function can also reveal hidden patterns in raw signals for AI systems, further supporting intelligent decision-making in complex environments.
Therefore, ams OSRAM regards dToF as a key link for precise ranging and proposes reducing the overhead of multi-chip calibration and synchronization through hardware-level fusion.
Since UAVs are extremely sensitive to weight, volume, power consumption, and cost, multi-sensor fusion cannot rely solely on "stacking components." If adding every sensing capability means adding new chips, recalibrating, resynchronizing, and redeveloping algorithms, it will be difficult for small and medium-sized UAVs to bear the system complexity and cost pressure. The direction given by ams OSRAM is to control the cost increment brought by single-function sensors within an acceptable range through integration, standardization, and scenario-based tailoring, thereby promoting the real landing of fusion solutions.
Under low-illumination conditions, ams OSRAM uses its lighting-side OSLON and OSCONIQ series high-power white or colored LEDs for active illumination to ensure the illumination of the captured scene, corresponding to the rigid demand for nighttime operations in the low-altitude economy. Nighttime inspection and emergency rescue are mission-oriented flights. UAVs need to identify obstacles, judge targets, and maintain path stability in low-illumination environments, so active light sources need to be added.
Spectral sensing is a more easily underestimated link in the ams OSRAM solution. When UAVs fly in complex lighting environments, image recognition and visual navigation are easily affected by lighting changes. Ambient light sensors, CCT sensors, and multispectral sensors provide more realistic and stable light environment information for the image system. ams OSRAM mentioned that its high-precision ambient light sensors and multispectral sensors can sample correlated color temperature in real time to improve image quality.
Among them, the TCS3448 is a representative product. The TCS3448 integrates 11 spectral channels and light source flicker detection functions, capable of accurately sensing the spectral composition, brightness, and flicker characteristics of ambient light, as well as light flicker detection to assist auto-exposure. This is especially important for edge AI because AI models are highly sensitive to input data quality. If images are affected by complex lighting, flicker, and color deviation, the backend recognition accuracy will decrease. The popularization of multispectral and spectral sensing essentially pushes the UAV visual system from simple light intensity detection to the understanding of spectral composition.
In scenarios such as agricultural plant protection, industrial inspection, and material recognition, this capability may be further amplified. Agricultural UAVs need not only to "see" crops but also to identify growth conditions, color changes, and possible clues of pests and diseases; industrial inspection is not just about capturing the surface of equipment but also maintaining image consistency under different light sources and reflection conditions; urban inspection will face complex light source environments such as streetlights, screens, car lights, and glass curtain walls. What spectral sensing provides in these scenarios is precisely the underlying data stability from "seeing" to "recognizing."
China's Low-Altitude Economy Enters the Validation Period, Testing Three Underlying Capabilities of UAVs
In summary, China's low-altitude economy tests three types of underlying capabilities of UAVs: sensing capability, power efficiency, and reliability.
Sensing capability is the first threshold. In industrial inspection and urban low-altitude flight, UAVs face complex conditions such as glass curtain wall reflection, strong light, shadows, low nighttime illumination, rain and fog, dust, and GPS restrictions. onsemi emphasizes that UAVs are evolving from "flying platforms" to "autonomous aerial intelligent agents," and future competition will shift towards visual systems and sensing capabilities; ams OSRAM also mentioned that the difficulty for UAVs to truly "understand the world" lies in sensors achieving environmental adaptation in "harsh real-world combat" such as nighttime, rain and fog, and strong light.
Power efficiency is the second key variable. Small industrial UAVs require longer endurance and higher payloads, while logistics UAVs and eVTOLs further push up the requirements for power density, thermal management, and high-voltage systems. onsemi mentioned in the interview that eVTOL has extremely high requirements for endurance and payload, and the power system must achieve extremely high efficiency within limited volume and weight; SiC is more suitable for main propulsion motor drives and high-voltage power systems, while GaN is more suitable for high-frequency and lightweight subsystems such as low-voltage auxiliary power supplies or communication RF.
Reliability determines whether the low-altitude economy can move from demonstration to scale. Consumer-grade UAVs can tolerate certain usage boundaries, but industrial inspection, logistics distribution, and passenger-carrying eVTOLs cannot just look at the performance of a single chip but must look at the verifiable capabilities of the system in terms of temperature, vibration, lifespan, failure probability, and functional safety. onsemi mentioned that eVTOL power devices still need to combine airworthiness rules to establish traceable and verifiable reliability testing standards.
Therefore, in the early development of China's low-altitude economy, it will accelerate the landing of image sensors, dToF, active illumination, SiC/GaN, power management, and multi-sensor fusion solutions. onsemi also stated that the company is paying high attention to this market and, based on the "Designed in China, Made in China" strategy, quickly responds to customer needs through local teams, while increasing the proportion of local procurement and establishing cooperation with local manufacturers to enhance supply chain resilience.