PALO ALTO, Calif., April 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hesai Technology (NASDAQ: HSAI; HKEX: 2525), a global leader in lidar solutions, attended MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, showcasing its latest 3D lidar solutions for smart logistics applications. At the event, Hesai highlighted its collaboration with Thoro.ai, a Pittsburgh-based, industry-leading robotics company. Hesai will supply its high-performance mini 3D lidar, the JT128, to power Thoro.ai’s perception platform across a wide range of robotic applications, including the industry’s first safety-certified AI autonomy platform for industrial and commercial robots.
Hesai Powers Safety-Certified AI Autonomy for Smart Logistics with 3D Lidar at MODEX 2026
Thoro.ai is a software-first robotics company dedicated to enabling OEMs to launch safety-certified autonomous solutions with minimal in-house development. Through CoreFlex — a unified sensor and software suite — OEMs can accelerate time to market, reduce costs, and scale a single autonomy solution across multiple robot types. High-performance sensors like Hesai’s JT128 are critical to making this versatile architecture a reality, providing reliable data that can be used consistently across different machines and applications.
Hesai’s collaboration with Thoro.ai has already begun with significant developments underway. Four new autonomous mobile robots slated for release next year will all be powered by the JT128 lidar. Designed for various workflows across cleaning and material handling, this integration highlights the scalability of CoreFlex and the JT128’s ability to accelerate a wide range of autonomous applications.
With its slim 30 mm window height and a 70% smaller volume compared to similar products, the JT128 can be easily integrated into machines of all sizes, from small cleaning robots to large industrial robots. Its compact form factor helps Thoro.ai streamline hardware integration and simplify development, enabling OEM partners to adopt autonomy faster.
In addition to its compact size, the JT128 features the world’s widest 360° × 187° ultra-hemispherical field of view, delivering all-around perception coverage with no blind spots. In warehouse environments, some of Thoro.ai’s robots require vertical awareness to detect objects beneath forks and align with rack beams above. The vertical field of view of the JT128 enables true autonomous pallet handling while meeting strict safety standards.
Because lidar actively emits laser light, it is not affected by ambient lighting conditions. This makes the JT128 highly reliable across all of Thoro.ai’s robotic applications, including challenging environments with reflective surfaces and glass.
“At Thoro.ai, we think about each of these OEM partnerships not just as standalone projects, but as part of our CoreFlex autonomy architecture: a modular, safety-certified platform designed to scale across many machine types,” says Patrick Mondi, CEO of Thoro.ai. “The JT series plays a key role in making that possible by giving us reliable, high-fidelity perception that works consistently across very different form factors. This simplifies the integration process for our partners, lowers their development costs, and gets their autonomous solutions to market faster. Hesai’s responsiveness, bug testing, and rapid iteration cycles also align directly with our mission to deliver safe, reliable autonomy at scale.”
The collaboration between Hesai and Thoro.ai marks a significant step forward in the robotics industry. By integrating Thoro.ai’s advanced AI-driven autonomy software with Hesai’s high-performance JT128 lidar, the two companies are enabling OEMs to launch autonomous mobile robots that are safer, more intelligent, and faster to deploy. Visitors are invited to stop by Hesai’s booth (Hall A #5306) at MODEX 2026 to see firsthand how the company’s latest innovations are shaping the future of smart logistics.
