Excessive cost of laser radar will cause the technology in the industry to drive vehicles and conduct road tests. Various vehicle-mounted radars, laser pointer radars, and sensors provide support for various driving functions of vehicles and play a very important role. However, due to its high price, many car companies are temporarily unable to deploy the device in large quantities. To this end, many technology companies and start-ups in the automotive industry are competing to improve their performance while significantly reducing manufacturing costs.
Responsible for Valeo’s product innovation business, Lidar was considered to be the basis for all autonomous vehicles. The company is currently recruiting volunteers in the East Valley area to take its self-driving vehicles for testing in urban areas, and also uses lidar.
The high cost of lidar has triggered a technology research and development competition in the industry. This technology uses near-infrared light to detect the shape of objects around the vehicle. Lidar can produce accurate 3D images, covering trees, vehicles, and cyclists in the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and can be used under different lighting conditions. Although a variety of sensors are used in the design of autonomous vehicles, including radar, ultrasound cameras, and video cameras, lidar has its unique features. For example, lidar does not suffer from imaging errors due to shadows or sunlight being blocked.
At present, the cost problem has become a major obstacle to the widespread promotion of green laser pointer radars, and cost reduction has become a top priority. Eight years ago, when Google launched its self-driving vehicle research project, it used manufactured lidar products that cost about $ 75,000. Although declined to comment on the current selling price, the CEO mentioned recently that the cost of lidar systems has fallen by 90%. Although the cost has dropped to $ 7,500, car companies still believe that the price of the lidar system is too expensive, so they cannot deploy the device in batches for their vehicles.