London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

Artificial eyes: How robots will see in the future

It's never good when a giant of the technology business describes your product as "a fool's errand".
But that's how Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk branded the laser scanning system Lidar, which is being touted as the best way for autonomous cars to sense their environment.

In April he said Lidar was "expensive" and "unnecessary". He believes that cameras combined with artificial intelligence will be enough to allow cars to roam the streets without a human driver.

Lidar emits laser beams and measures how long they take to bounce back from objects, and this provides so-called point-clouds to draw 3D maps of the surroundings.

These can be analysed by computers to recognise objects as small as a football or as big as a football field and can measure distances very accurately.

Despite Mr Musk, some argue these $10,000 (£7,750) pieces of kit are going to be essential. "For a car to reach anything close to full autonomy it will need Lidar," says Spardha Taneja of Ptolemus Consulting Group, a mobility consultancy.

But why are experts so divided, and how should investors judge this potential gold mine?

Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology is not new - the Apollo 15 mission used it in 1971 to map the Moon. But its breakthrough came in the mid-2000s when Darpa, the research division of the US military, started its annual Grand Challenge, a race for autonomous vehicles.

David Hall who took part in the first race in 2004, soon realised Lidar's potential. He used the manufacturing capacity of his company Velodyne to build them for other participants.

By 2007 five of the six teams to finish the race employed Velodyne's system. These rotating lasers, so-called spinners, were mounted on car-roofs to provide 360-degree vision.

Autonomous vehicles have other ways of sensing what's around them, but they all have weaknesses.

Cameras: Mr Musk's choice of sensor are cheap and can identify signs and road markings, but they struggle in fog and are not good for measuring distance

Ultrasonic sensors: Originally developed during World War One for submarine warfare these use sound waves with a high frequency inaudible to humans. but their range is limited and hence are mainly employed for parking

Radar: This is good for measuring the distance and speed of moving objects, but is not much good at detail - it would struggle to differentiate between a human and a small tree

"The drawback of Velodyne's original Lidar was that it was bulky, its spinning parts were fragile and it cost more than $100,000," explains Rudy Burger, managing director of Woodside Capital Partners, an investment bank which specialises in technology.

Since then the challenge has been to make Lidar units that are smaller, sturdier and cheaper.

Today Mr Burger counts around 100 Lidar firms. These include car manufacturers like GM and Ford, the GoogleX spin-off Waymo and numerous start-ups, 11 of which have raised more than $100m by his account. There is also the Chinese tech giant Alibaba that has developed a Lidar-based delivery bot.

Mr Burger says the big question now is which system will be put into mass-produced cars.

Manufacturers have to decide whether they want Lidar with more expensive fibre lasers which pump out more energy and have range even in wet weather.

They also have to choose between Lidar units with moving parts and others which don't - so-called solid-state systems.

"Car manufacturers increasingly prefer those for their durability, lower prize and smaller size which allows smoother aesthetics," says Ms Taneja. She says a solid-state, long range Lidar costs from $4,000-25,000, but that this price will drop by some 40% by 2022.

However, because solid-state devices have a narrow field of vision, cars will need several each. Given these costs, car manufacturers are still testing different technologies and other than Velodyne no manufacturer has so far sold Lidars in big numbers, she says.

One of the start-ups hoping to do just that is Blickfeld launched in Munich in 2017. "We entered the market late, but the advantage was that we could assess it," says co-founder Florian Petit.

"So we opted against the revolutionary approaches of many Silicon Valley firms," and instead wondered "how low can we push the price for a mass-produced system?" he says.

Blickfeld uses off-the-shelf lasers and sensors. Its main improvement has been to design an unusually large mirror, directing more light onto the photo-detector and thus increasing the range of Lidar to 250m (800ft) even with a relatively cheap laser.

Its Lidar is small enough to fit into the rear mirror of a car and Blickfeld's new assembly line will produce a few thousand units a year. It claims this could be scaled up to an annual capacity of 200,000 - with a possible price tag of just $275 (£210).

Blickfeld already sells Lidars to various firms. They are used to survey cars for parking facilities and traffic control, to run so-called sense-and-avoid systems preventing drone collisions and to monitor fences at labs, banks or airports.

"Lidars produce 3D maps that are easier for computers to analyse and are thus less prone to triggering false alarms than cameras," says Mr Petit. Still, his main target remains the car industry.

How large this market will become for Lidar is controversial. Tesla's Elon Musk hopes the cheaper option of improved cameras linked to higher definition radars will suffice.

Others such as Rudy Burger expect the market to temporarily split into two: First, robo-taxis will drive autonomously in crowded cities. In that case even expensive Lidars would still be cheaper than the cost for a driver.

However, for private cars where cost is often the dominant factor the Lidar market is likely to take longer to evolve and may ultimately be replaced by a combination of cameras and radar, he says.

Despite such delays Ms Taneja expects Lidar will become necessary for any car with high levels of autonomy. That means any up-market vehicle now in development for sale in the next few years that will allow drivers to temporarily turn their attention elsewhere. "You just need this extra level of perception for safety reasons."

How appealing that market is to Lidar producers becomes apparent from Ms Taneja's breakdown: of the overall price for an advanced self-driving system, 60% goes to Lidar, 30% to the processing unit and 10% to high definition maps, AI software and satellite navigation.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×