LiDAR: The eyes of a self-driving car

The world of self-driving cars is gradually building trust among people. Their future no longer seems to be indeterminate. In the coming years, it will be no surprise to see them all around you. the truth is, even now they are conquering the roads of different states in America; however, their usage is currently confined to some specific test conditions.

That being said, the big obstacle is the way toward the widespread use of self-driving cars still remains: how can I be sure they are safe?

Every minute we are losing innumerable careless drivers all over the world. In other words, human error and distraction stand as the essential reason for the vast majority of driving incidents in the world. Despite all these, people tend to put the blame on a “human” after an incident rather than a robot, i.e. a self-driving car, though self-driving cars can be much more careful than them.

The good news is, a slew of technologies are finding their way to the world of autonomous cars these days. These technologies one by one can diminish the probability of robotic car incidents. One of the most interesting questions that arise regarding a self-driving car is this: how do they detect the obstacles around?

One of the most reliable technologies used in robotic cars to discern the surroundings is LiDAR: Light Detection and Ranging. To further investigate what LiDAR is, read on.

LiDAR: the eyes of a self-driving car

You may have seen a rotating device installed on top of an autonomous vehicle. This device is LiDAR, acting as the eye of the car. The technology provides the car system with a 360-degree view of whatever is around it.

LiDAR has advanced on the shoulders of its predecessors — sonar and radar systems. Instead of using sound or radio waves to three-dimensionally map the surrounding, LiDAR uses laser light pulses. In other words, LiDAR can map the area at the speed of light.

The technology was first developed by NASA and the U.S. military 45 years ago. Since then, the experts have developed it further and made it more compact, leveraging its versatility, accuracy, and speed.

How LiDAR works

LiDAR system emits and receives as many as 100,000 laser pulses in a second. To rephrase it, the working principle of the technology is similar to the sonar system. The sonar system emits sound waves in many directions. They generate an echoing sound upon making contact with an object. The source then receives the generated sound. Consequently, the source calculates the distance to the object based on the speed of sound waves.

LiDAR system operates under the same principle. The difference is that LiDAR works at the speed of light — 100,000 times faster than the sound speed. In other words, the system emits and then receives hundreds of thousands of laser pulses every second. It creates a 3D map of the area by means of all of the pulses.

Uses of LiDAR

Not only is LiDAR being used in the self-driving cars industry, but it is also used in many more industries you cannot even think of. To mention only some, it is being used in Hollywood productions, new research functions, and also in transforming the way we traverse the roadways.

Ecological organizations use LiDAR to track tree growth over sprawling ecosystems. In addition to that, airplanes are these days equipped with LiDAR. Even when moving at cruising speed, they can catalog individual leaves and branches by the billions in a single sweep.

NASA uses LiDAR to calculate the stratospheric temperature. They measure the density of individual elements in the atmosphere. Also, environmental scientists use it to chart the topography of the ocean floor.

Filmmakers are also incorporating the technology to include once-not-possible-to-use environments and objects in their works.

The cost

The technology is already very expensive. One of the most popular early models from Velodyne, used by many self-driving companies, costs $75,000. Thankfully, they are getting cheaper and cheaper. Actually, the experts predict that LiDAR will become as commonplace in mass-market vehicles as cameras, radar, and other inexpensive safety technologies.

All of the companies working on LiDAR technology are trumpeting their findings on the basis of a similar message: better resulting, wider field of view, longer range, more precision, and cheaper models. The chances are high that the technology will soon succeed in the battles.