This week we will tackle a technology that is gaining momentum: LIDAR.
2nd technology: LIDAR
First of all, what is Lidar? LiDAR is the acronym for Light Detection And Ranging, which could be translated by the detection of distance by light. We are talking about a technology based on calculating the flight time of a laser light between its emission and its return to the sensor. Unlike the radar we saw last week the Lidar detects objects only on a 2D surface. Indeed, the laser is sent very quickly, using a mirror, on a circle around it and at an angle of 270°.
As we have seen, the Lidar is more and more used. This is due to its cost which has fallen sharply and especially to its high precision which corresponds more and more to the applications currently in place.
Lidar technology can detect objects up to 200m. This is why it is increasingly used in the automobile and on vehicles that run at high speed. Indeed, this remote detection makes it possible to better anticipate the dangers and to set up avoidance processes. You find lidars on the famous Tesla for guiding and anticollision.
In addition, the Lidar’s wide detection field, 270 °, limits the number of sensors and therefore reduces the cost of the complete solution.
At Efa, we use Lidars on autonomous vehicles, to have a high accuracy of detection and thus guidance. They could also be used to make anti-collision “classic” but have the defect of being more fragile than the radar which answers most of the time to the need of the users. In addition, the Lidar does not like dust, rain, fog and snow. Indeed, it is so precise that it will detect these elements and take them for obstacles.
We recommend our customers to use the Lidar only in good weather conditions or indoors. The Lidar will be the most accurate, fast and efficient technology you can find for anti-collision or vehicle guidance. A “must have” for the vehicles of tomorrow !!!
