11–20 of 72 posts
Interesting. Frequency-modulated continuous-wave LIDAR is easy to do as a one-point device. Many such devices have been built. But they're usually short range, such as the discontinued Swiss Ranger, and don't reject ambient light as effectively as pulse systems. Being both eye-safe and sunlight-tolerant is hard. Eye-safe is easier if you can increase the diameter of the outgoing beam. Eye safety is measured based on…
I assume LIDAR is needed since the AI isn't advanced enough to do depth perception? If I can drive with two eye balls, then I'd think a circular camera array would be plenty. Maybe this is what Tesla plans on using (in combination with RADAR).
While LIDAR and stereo cameras (as well as RGBD depth cameras like Kinect) both effectively do the same thing, LIDAR typically has a much longer effective range while keeping high resolution. To give you an example, this[1] commercially available sensor head can give great resolution stereo depth at around 10m but the included LIDAR unit is good out to around 30m. LIDAR also has the advantage of operating on a differ…
I'm with the grandparent: I genuinely don't understand the obsession with LIDAR in this space. It's complicated and fiddly, and seems to be competing with an "obvious" solution involving $3 camera parts.
Interesting. Frequency-modulated continuous-wave LIDAR is easy to do as a one-point device. Many such devices have been built. But they're usually short range, such as the discontinued Swiss Ranger, and don't reject ambient light as effectively as pulse systems. Being both eye-safe and sunlight-tolerant is hard. Eye-safe is easier if you can increase the diameter of the outgoing beam. Eye safety is measured based on…
Isn't flash lidar range limited unless at a very high power output?
I studied optics a bunch in college but never managed to work it into my electrical engineering job. Might be lame, but I didn't have any clue this kind of integration was possible yet, it's certainly quite exciting. Probably the coolest thing I've read about in quite some time.
I assume LIDAR is needed since the AI isn't advanced enough to do depth perception? If I can drive with two eye balls, then I'd think a circular camera array would be plenty. Maybe this is what Tesla plans on using (in combination with RADAR).
[0]: http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-backed-austin-rus...
I assume LIDAR is needed since the AI isn't advanced enough to do depth perception? If I can drive with two eye balls, then I'd think a circular camera array would be plenty. Maybe this is what Tesla plans on using (in combination with RADAR).
Interesting. Frequency-modulated continuous-wave LIDAR is easy to do as a one-point device. Many such devices have been built. But they're usually short range, such as the discontinued Swiss Ranger, and don't reject ambient light as effectively as pulse systems. Being both eye-safe and sunlight-tolerant is hard. Eye-safe is easier if you can increase the diameter of the outgoing beam. Eye safety is measured based on…
What about a beam collimator at the detector? It would reject a lot of noise but would cost some power.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While LIDAR and stereo cameras (as well as RGBD depth cameras like Kinect) both effectively do the same thing, LIDAR typically has a much longer effective range while keeping high resolution. To give you an example, this[1] commercially available sensor head can give great resolution stereo depth at around 10m but the included LIDAR unit is good out to around 30m. LIDAR also has the advantage of operating on a differ…
That sensor you linked looks to have its two cameras about 10cm apart. A car is easily 1.5m wide, giving a very cheap 15x increase in range for far objects and beating the LIDAR quote by a ton (and of course you can have multiple camera pairs for different distance ranges of course). I'm with the grandparent: I genuinely don't understand the obsession with LIDAR in this space. It's complicated and fiddly, and seems t…
Again, I think they both have their uses. If LIDAR can be made not so complicated and fiddly, I think it brings a lot to the table.
One of the advantages for solid-state LIDAR has to be an increase in reliability. Nobody wants to buy a car which requires a new LIDAR to be installed after 100,000 miles for the sum of $7,000. Hopefully once production starts and yield rates increase the unit costs can shrink small enough to being becoming feasible for integration into lower-end products like cell phones or laptops. I think there are a lot of cool a…