{"id":338276,"date":"2017-04-13T20:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1476343"},"modified":"2017-04-13T20:00:12","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T12:00:12","slug":"luminar-reveals-sensors-that-could-make-self-driving-cars-safer-than-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/luminar-reveals-sensors-that-could-make-self-driving-cars-safer-than-human\/","title":{"rendered":"Luminar reveals sensors that could make self-driving cars safer than human"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Cameras help autonomous vehicles read street signs and the color of traffic lights. But LiDARs, aka light detection and ranging systems, do the important work of sensing and helping cars avoid obstacles, whether that\u2019s a fallen tree, drunk driver, or a child running out into the road.<\/p>\n

Now, a startup called Luminar Technologies Inc., is unveiling a high-resolution LiDAR sensor that was five years in the making. The startup, which has raised $36 million in seed-stage funding so far, built its LiDAR systems from scratch. That means the company engineered its own: lasers, receivers, chips, packaging and more, rather than incorporating off-the-shelf components.<\/p>\n

Investors in Luminar have included: Canvas Ventures<\/a>, GVA Capital<\/a>, and the Peter Thiel-backed 1517 Fund<\/a>. According to Luminar\u2019s CEO and cofounder Austin Russell, the company\u2019s\u00a0LiDARs\u00a0give cars the ability to see obstacles ahead in much greater detail, and at much greater distances than any other systems on the market today.<\/p>\n

Predecessors and competitors offering\u00a0LiDAR for self-driving vehicles\u00a0include Quanergy<\/a>, Velodyne<\/a>, and Alphabet-owned Waymo<\/a>, among others.\u00a0At twenty-two years old, Russell is confident his technology has them all beat in terms of performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luminar CEO and cofounder Austin Russell<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At the age of two, Russell had already memorized the periodic tables, by twelve he wrote his first patent, and perhaps predictably he later dropped out of Stanford with a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship.<\/a><\/p>\n

He said, \u201cMy role models were primarily in\u00a0physics and engineering. I admire the classics like Newton, Tesla and Einstein. They all came up with a new way of thinking about a problem in order to be able to advance an entire field, rather than making incremental improvements to some specific technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem most\u00a0LiDAR\u00a0makers are trying to solve, Russell points out, is one of affordability. Many\u00a0auto-grade LiDARs\u00a0still cost tens of thousands of dollars. Instead of simply making easier-to-manufacture, and cheaper versions of existing tech, Luminar sought\u00a0to build a higher-performing sensor, even if it used exotic materials\u00a0and operated at a different wavelength than industry standards.<\/p>\n

Luminar invited TechCrunch to see a demonstration of its systems at San Francisco\u2019s Pier 35, a terminal with a long straightaway. There, employees had\u00a0arranged mannequins of different heights dressed in different colors, as well as life-sized decoy deers, car\u00a0tires, and signs that marked the distance every 25 meters or so. At the distance of 200 meters,\u00a0Luminar\u00a0placed a large canvas painted the same hue\u00a0as a common black car.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luminar CEO Austin Russell conducting LiDAR systems tests at Pier 35 in San Francisco.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The company had purchased vehicles straight from BMW, Mercedes Benz, Tesla and other dealerships, equipped them with its own LiDAR sensors, and was\u00a0driving those cars around Pier 35. Monitors in the cars displayed maps of the world around the moving vehicle, drawn in real-time from the LiDAR data.<\/p>\n

The Luminar system, operated\u00a0by CTO and cofounder Jason Eichenholz,<\/a> clearly\u00a0portrayed: a bicyclist weaving in and out of the road, at 100 meters and further away;\u00a0a small\u00a0pigeon that suddenly scurried about 40 meters in front of their car; and they clearly showed the\u00a0human form of the mannequins, even those dressed in dark garb; as well as the black-painted canvas at the end of the\u00a0pier.<\/p>\n

By contrast, data streaming in from other LiDAR\u00a0makers would only show a few dots or a meager line indicating that an object lay ahead. Other systems could\u00a0not specify\u00a0objects\u00a0or even detect dark walls and the mannequins\u00a0dressed in darker clothes. And earlier LiDAR sensors\u00a0only showed\u00a0what was happening within about a 35- to 50-meter range.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luminar CTO and cofounder Jason Eichenholz at Pier 35 in San Francisco.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with how LiDAR works, TechCrunch has a handy primer here<\/a>. But at the highest level, LiDARs send beams of light out, which bounce back and generate data points that build a picture of a car\u2019s surroundings and the distance and density of objects ahead.<\/p>\n

Luminar\u2019s LiDARs send out millions of laser pulses per second. They give the vehicle\u00a0a 120-degree range of view. They also\u00a0allow optical zoom, or more concentrated analysis of any obstacles near\u00a0a car.<\/p>\n

Russell said, \u201cIf you notice, a lot of self-driving vehicles are limited to operating at or below 25 miles per hour. These are things like delivery robots, or robots used in warehouses. We can see objects at 200 meters, while driving 75 miles per hour. That means you have about 7 seconds of time for your car to react. Other lidars only give one second of reaction time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luminar\u2019s LiDAR sensor affixed to a roof rack of a vehicle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Luminar investor Rebecca Lynn,<\/a>\u00a0a partner at Canvas VC, said now that the company is putting its systems out on the market, she expects Luminar will become a major strategic player in automotive. Indeed, the CEO said car companies\u00a0have already offered to buy up, at any price, all the LiDARs that Luminar\u00a0plans to produce in its first run, starting this year.<\/p>\n

The startup is using some of its significant seed funding to build a 50,000 square foot factory in Orlando, Fla. Its headquarters office, however, is in Portola Valley, Calif.<\/p>\n

While some argue that self-driving cars will be able to rely on cameras alone for perception, Lynn said: \u201cLiDAR will be able to save more lives than any technology being developed today, from genomics to AI. There are many things that will make our lives easier or better. But looking at tech that can truly save lives, it is autonomous driving. And you cannot have fully safe autonomous driving without LiDAR.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Luminar Technologies Inc.<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Cameras help autonomous vehicles read street signs and the color of traffic lights. But LiDARs, aka light detection and ranging systems, do the important work of sensing and helping cars avoid obstacles, whether that’s a fallen tree, drunk driver, or a child running out into the road. Now, a startup called Luminar Technologies Inc., is unveiling a high-resolution LiDAR sensor that was… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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