Physics / mechanism
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) emits pulsed or modulated laser light and measures time-of-flight (ToF) or phase shift of returned photons to reconstruct 3D point clouds. Core variants: mechanical spinning (360° FoV, legacy), MEMS-mirror scanning (miniaturised, lower reliability ceiling), optical phased arrays (OPA, solid-state, CMOS-compatible), and FMCW (frequency-modulated continuous wave, coherent detection, simultaneous velocity via Doppler). Key parameters: range (automotive target ≥200 m), angular resolution (<0.1°), frame rate (>10 Hz), eye-safety class (905 nm vs 1550 nm tradeoffs), and photon detection efficiency. FMCW at 1550 nm is current performance frontier—Aeva, Aurora, Luminar pushing silicon photonics and InGaAs APD/SPAD receiver integration. Point cloud density now >1M points/sec in top-tier systems.
Competitive landscape
Competing sensing modalities for depth/environment mapping:
| Modality | Range | Resolution | Key weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camera + ML (pseudo-LiDAR) | Unbounded | High 2D, depth inferred | Depth accuracy degrades, lighting-dependent |
| Radar (77 GHz / 4D imaging) | >300 m | Low angular | No fine geometry, poor object classification |
| Structured light / ToF camera | <10 m | Medium | Short range, sunlight interference |
Companies using
Connected ideas
Sources
Frontier (open questions)
- To be added.