Toyota is the first automaker to embrace a promising laser sensor that sees farther and in more detail than its major competitors.
The lidar system, developed by Luminar, uses longer wavelength light than other sensors, allowing it to operate at a higher power and spot dark objects twice as far out as regular devices. At 70 miles per hour, that’s three extra seconds of warning. It uses a mirror to quickly steer its laser, so that it can easily zoom in on areas while still mapping an entire scene.
The device is the brainchild of Austin Russell, a Stanford dropout and one of our 35 Innovators Under 35 for 2017. He had previously told MIT Technology Review that Luminar was working with “four major autonomous vehicle programs,” but the firm has now announced that the Toyota Research Institute is the first to deeply integrate the technology into its vehicles.
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