The importance of LiDAR in Autonomous Vehicle

According to foreign media reports, a variety of cameras equipped with self-driving vehicles are designed to use the device to detect obstacles on the road and map the surrounding environment of the vehicle. Among all kinds of sensors, in terms of function, the LiDAR sensor is the closest to the human eye. Its light detection and ranging system is similar to radar, but it uses light waves instead of radio waves.

The LiDAR system uses laser pulse signals to “illuminate” the target area and calculates the time it takes for the reflected signal to return to the receiver. This type of system consists of light sources, photodetectors, data processing electronics and motion control equipment.

The principle of LiDAR is to emit a laser beam to a target object and then determine the actual distance from the target object according to the time interval between laser beam emission and reflection. The biggest feature is that the distance measurement is accurate, which can reach the level of accuracy. Such high-precision measurement provides data guarantee for the follow-up algorithm of unmanned driving.

In terms of 3D environment perception, LiDAR can scan the static and dynamic obstacles around the vehicle in real time, and rely on the point cloud classification algorithm to segment and classify the obstacles, and output to the downstream control and decision-making module. The planning and decision-making control module is based on different obstacles. Make different behavioral decisions, such as following, overtaking, parking, etc.

LiDAR makes up for the shortcomings of other sensors, but it also has its shortcomings, such as sensor noise in rain and snow.