No LIDAR Means No Safety in Self-Driving Vehicles, Says Auto Supplier Exec

by Steph Willems

Published: July 6th, 2016

no lidar means no safety in self driving vehicles says auto supplier exec

If you’re going to let people take their hands off the wheel and let the vehicle do the driving, you’d better offer every tool available to make sure it’s safe.

That’s the view of Stefan Sommer, CEO of German auto parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen, who advocated for the use of LIDAR (light detection and ranging) in autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles in the wake of the fatal Tesla crash.

Quoted in Automotive News, Sommer said he didn’t have any details on the May 7 crash that killed Joshua Brown, but he did know what it takes to make sure a vehicle knows what’s in front of it.

“For autonomous driving, we will need three core technologies: picture processing camera technology, short and long-range radar and lidar,” Sommer said at a news conference today.

LIDAR uses laser beams to map out objects in front of a vehicle in a similar manner to radar waves. It’s an expensive technology, but several companies are actively pursuing it — including U.S.-based Velodyne and a Canadian developer that plans to conduct vehicle trials over the next two years.

Sommer said that LIDAR’s ability to recognize objects in bright-light and low-light situations makes it essential for any autonomous driving system. While he refrained from mentioning Tesla’s technology, that company’s Autopilot uses only a forward-facing radar and camera to see the road ahead, along with external sensors to monitor the vehicle’s immediate surroundings.

Brown’s Model S drove underneath the trailer of a transport truck while on Autopilot after the system failed to recognize the brightly lit trailer against the equally bright sky. Tesla confirmed that the light confused the system, but repeated its earlier warning that drivers need to remain aware of the road and be able to respond quickly while using Autopilot.

A Tesla Model S test vehicle spotted in California in March appeared to be outfitted with LIDAR, meaning future versions of Autopilot could adopt the technology. If it does go that route, Tesla could market Autopilot as a fully autonomous system, once lawmakers allow it.

Of course, there’s always those looking for an easier way to get the same result. In an interview with TTAC, Millennial hacker-turned-inventor George Hotz — who created his own self-driving vehicle from an Acura ILX — said he plans to develop a camera-only system for autonomous driving. His ILX testbed used LIDAR at first, but he said the cost of a Velodyne device is prohibitive. Cameras, on the other hand, have never been cheaper.

[Image: Volvo]

#AutonomousDriving #Autopilot #LIDAR #Self-drivingTechnology #Technology #Tesla

Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 26 comments

Stuki on Jul 07, 2016

And "Moooh," says a cow. Humans manage with nothing but a fo4rward facing stereo camera. No doubt Lidar has properties that, at least seemingly, is desirable for auto awareness in traffic, but it's hardly black and white. In general, and as much as this flies in the face of pervasive indoctrinated progressive dogma, "................., says some dude equipped with a hole in the head from which sound can emanate" carries exactly, no more no less, as much weight as ditto from the cow mentioned above. Build an autonomous car using Lidar, and see if yours, over time, meaningfully outperforms all those built without. No use moooh'ing about it.

Like Reply
Ricky Spanish on Jul 07, 2016

And in the process my Valentine One becomes useless . . .

Like Reply

Recent Comments

AZFelix UCHOTD (Used Corporate Headquarters of the Day):Loaded 1977 model with all the options including tinted glass windows, People [s]Mugger[/s] Mover stop, and a rotating restaurant. A/C blows cold and it has an aftermarket Muzak stereo system. Current company ran okay when it was parked here. Minor dents and scrapes but no known major structural or accident damage. Used for street track racing in the 80s and 90s. Needs some cosmetic work and atrium plants need weeding & watering – I have the tools and fertilizer but haven’t gotten around to doing the work myself. Rare one of a kind design. No trades or low ball offers – I know what I got.
El scotto UH, more parking and a building that was designed for CAT 5 cable at the new place?
Ajla Maybe drag radials? 🤔
FreedMike Apparently this car, which doesn't comply to U.S. regs, is in Nogales, Mexico. What could possibly go wrong with this transaction?
El scotto Under NAFTA II or the USMCA basically the US and Canada do all the designing, planning, and high tech work and high skilled work. Mexico does all the medium-skilled work.Your favorite vehicle that has an Assembled in Mexico label may actually cross the border several times. High tech stuff is installed in the US, medium tech stuff gets done in Mexico, then the vehicle goes back across the border for more high tech stuff the back to Mexico for some nuts n bolts stuff.All of the vehicle manufacturers pass parts and vehicles between factories and countries. It's thought out, it's planned, it's coordinated and they all do it.Northern Mexico consists of a few big towns controlled by a few families. Those families already have deals with Texan and American companies that can truck their products back and forth over the border. The Chinese are the last to show up at the party. They're getting the worst land, the worst factories, and the worst employees. All the good stuff and people have been taken care of in the above paragraph.Lastly, the Chinese will have to make their parts in Mexico or the US or Canada. If not, they have to pay tariffs. High tariffs. It's all for one and one for all under the USMCA.Now evil El Scotto is thinking of the fusion of Chinese and Mexican cuisine and some darn good beer.