The prospects of developing fully self-driven vehicles became plausible only after the emergence of LIDAR.

FREMONT, CA: Futuristic autonomous vehicles are now becoming feasible owing to the advancements in sensor technology. The capability to sense physical objects and determine their dimensions from sufficient distance is central to self-driving features of advanced vehicles. This makes sensors highly indispensable for the evolving automotive industry. LIDAR systems are seem to be advanced sets of sensors that have played an instrumental role in the making of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). LIDAR, along with a combination of other smart sensors, has effectively led to the advanced and reliable capabilities within autonomous vehicles.       

Whether an object is nearby or far off, LIDAR sensors are able to detect them and display the result on screens mounted within vehicles. LIDAR sensors function by emitting laser lights and scanning physical objects to create their 3-dimensional maps. LIDAR sensors are often installed atop autonomous vehicles and are allowed to rotate continuously. While rotating, the sensors emit laser beams at high frequencies. Sophisticated programs then analyze the reflected light, and comprehensive maps of the vicinity are created almost in real-time. Such capabilities seem straight out of a science-fiction book, but LIDAR sensors have successfully facilitated them today.

The optimization in LIDAR has always been a factor in determining their application in autonomous vehicles. What started out as expensive and bulky devices have now been converted into sleek components that seamlessly integrate with modern vehicles. Single-chip LIDAR sensors are the latest addition to self-driven cars and have successfully optimized vehicles’ ability to determine objects in its path.     

The detection and recognition capabilities of LIDAR-based ADAS are unmatched and give a major boost to the prospect of fully functional and safe self-driving vehicles.   

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