Luminar is using lidar to help build the ‘uncrashable car’
1Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/15/22533711/luminar-lidar-autonomous-vehicle-hands-on-demo-austin-russell
Reported today in The Verge.
Luminar is using lidar to help build the 'uncrashable car'
Austin Russell, the 26-year-old CEO of lidar maker Luminar, folds his lanky six-foot, four-inch frame into the back of a Toyota RAV4 and declares with giddy enthusiasm: "This is our first live demo!"
It may seem late in the game for a public demo, especially for a company that was founded in 2012 and recently went public via a $3.4 billion SPAC deal. There will be an even longer wait for those who want to see Luminar's Iris lidar sensors in action: series production of Volvo vehicles with the company's laser sensors embedded in the roof is not scheduled to begin until late 2022.
But on a rainy day in Manhattan, Russell is clearly excited to show off what Iris can do. He is in New York City for an event they're calling "Studio Day" - a chance to show off not only the test vehicle we're currently riding in, but also a few concepts of other lidar-powered vehicles, including a robotaxi and semi-trailer truck.
Lidar, a key ingredient in autonomous driving, is a laser sensor that uses near-infrared light to detect the shapes of objects. This helps autonomous vehicles "see" other road users like cars, pedestrians, and cyclists, all without the help of GPS or a network connection.
As the RAV4 bumps along through midtown Manhattan, those shapes can be viewed on two flat-screen monitors attached to the back of the front seat headrests, amorphous blobs rendered in colorful hues of orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple. We see the outline of a man walking along the sidewalk, cars passing on the road, and approaching traffic lights. A few clicks on a mobile keyboard enhances the resolution and we can even see the door handles on the rows of parked cars.
Existing active safety systems in c