Lidar technology is close to making self-driving cars a reality.
In the impending era of autonomous vehicles (AVs), the role of advanced sensor technology, particularly Lidar, is gaining prominence. Lidar, short for "light detection and ranging," utilizes pulsed lasers to swiftly and accurately map a three-dimensional model of the environment. Developed by NASA for satellite tracking, Lidar's applications have expanded, making it a compelling option for AVs to navigate and interpret their surroundings.
Lidar's advantage lies in its use of light, enabling faster and more precise mapping compared to traditional sound (sonar) or microwave (radar) systems. The technology rapidly sends laser pulses outward, calculating distances based on the time elapsed between emission and the return of the reflected beam. This enables Lidar to form a comprehensive image of the surroundings, crucial for AVs to identify pedestrians, animals, obstacles, and other vehicles.
In the context of AVs, Lidar becomes pivotal as it offers the potential for real-time, detailed environmental awareness, a necessity for vehicles operating autonomously, especially in complex urban settings. The extensive data collection required for effective decision-making in AVs emphasizes Lidar's importance in providing an accurate and up-to-date representation of the world around them.
Shedding light on the integration process
It's easy to see the appeal for original equipment manufacturers. The technology will enhance safety features with its superior environment mapping and rapid processing capabilities. Lidar's 360-degree coverage is anticipated to improve the accuracy of safety alerts, surpassing the capabilities of existing radar systems.
Mitch Hourtienne, Chief Commercial Officer for Cepton Inc (NASDAQ:CPTN) (Cepton Inc (NASDAQ:CPTN)), a Silicon Valley innovator of lidar-based solutions, recently shed light on the intricate process of integrating LIDAR technology into automobiles during a recent interview with Proactive. In commercializing the technology, Hourtienne expects Lidar to follow a similar path to cameras and radars, which were first integrated into vehicles nearly 25 years ago.
“(Cameras and radars) started out on high end luxury vehicles with certain use cases, but now you see radar all around mass market vehicles. By the end of the decade, you’ll start to see Lidar proliferate around the vehicle for surround view and different applications as we increase autonomy levels and new safety regulations take effect.”
Cepton is working closely with Koito Manufacturing and General Motors to integrate Lidar into vehicles. “There are a lot of work on the hardware side – how do you install this, how do you keep the power consumption small – and there’s work on the software side with integrating a new technology into features that the vehicle already has.”
The road ahead
Having validated the hardware, most of the work for Cepton and its partners now is on the software side. A major software milestone was recently reached, allowing the vehicles to be driven on public streets. The goal is to seamlessly integrate the vivid point cloud generated by LIDAR into existing vehicle features.
That’s not going to happen overnight, Hourtienne acknowledged, but Lidar producers and their OEM partners have “come over the hump” in integrating this new technology into vehicles.
“Now that it’s on the vehicle, it’s about expanding the feature set, which improves safety and convenience for consumers.
The sensor modality of Lidar will also keep improving over time, Hourtienne added.
“We've got the right integration, the software has been developed, and now we can really hit the road.”