LIDAR Supplier Defends Hardware, Blames Uber for Fatal Crash [Updated]

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Parts supplier Velodyne Lidar Inc. has come out against Uber Technologies following the release of video footage showing one if its autonomous test vehicles fatally striking an Arizona woman this week. Marta Thoma Hall, president of Velodyne, said she was confused as to why the autonomous SUV failed to see 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg crossing the street.

Velodyne, which supplies autonomous sensing equipment to many of the world’s automotive and tech firms (including Uber), is currently cooperating with federal investigators to determine what happened in Tempe, Arizona, on Sunday evening.

“We are as baffled as anyone else,” Thoma Hall wrote in an email to Bloomberg. “Certainly, our Lidar is capable of clearly imaging Elaine and her bicycle in this situation. However, our Lidar doesn’t make the decision to put on the brakes or get out of her way.”

Velodyne asserts that responsibility of ensuring the vehicle’s self-driving system is functioning effectively rests solely with Uber Technologies. Thus far, Uber hasn’t refuted the claims against it and has halted autonomous testing while investigators from local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board probe the crash.

“In addition to Lidar, autonomous systems typically have several sensors, including camera and radar to make decisions,” Thoma Hall explained. “We don’t know what sensors were on the Uber car that evening, if they were working, or how they were being used.”

The Velodyne executive did weigh in on a matter that’s left a large portion of the public addled by saying lidar is totally effective, regardless of illumination. Over the past week, confused comments on social media flooded in, suggesting it was “too dark” for the self-driving vehicle to “see” the pedestrian. “However, it is up to the rest of the system to interpret and use the data to make decisions. We do not know how the Uber system of decision-making works,” she added.

“We at Velodyne are very sad, and sorry about the recent Uber car accident which took a life,” she said. “David Hall, company CEO, inventor and founder, believes the accident was not caused by Lidar. The problem lies elsewhere.”

Update: Based upon information gleaned from the Uber-Waymo lawsuit, Uber was primarily using off-the-shelf parts from Velodyne throughout 2017. Further investigation showed that the majority of the firm’s Volvo XC90 test vehicles are equipped with the HDL-64E lidar sensor. That model yields a 120-meter range. We’ve provided a photo example (below) illustrating raw imaging data from the unit. It is not known if that was the specific model being used on the vehicle involved in the fatal accident. But photos suggest something similar in design.

[Images: Uber Technologies ; Velodyne Lidar Inc.]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • W126 W126 on Mar 26, 2018

    https://youtu.be/CRW0q8i3u6E At approx 33 seconds is the crash site at night, it is very well lit. I did not make this video, but it is accurate compared to what I see with my own eyes when I travel through this intersection at night.

  • Cdrmike Cdrmike on Mar 27, 2018

    A crackhead hobo steps into a random portion of road in the middle of the night and gets run over. All development of technology must cease and be re-evaluated. Is this a great country or what?

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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