LIDAR

•LIDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, has become a common fixture on self-driving cars operated by companies like GM and Alphabet's Waymo. But Musk has long argued that LIDAR is too expensive and too bulky for Tesla's vehicles.
•WORKING-Lidar works much like radar, but instead of sending out radio waves it emits pulses of infrared light—aka lasers invisible to the human eye—and measures how long they take to come back after hitting nearby objects. It does this millions of times a second, then compiles the results into a so-called point cloud, which works like a 3-D map of the world in real time—a map so detailed it can be used not just to spot objects but to identify them. Once it can identify objects, the car's computer can predict how they will behave, and thus how it should drive.

•That it sounds similar to sonar and radar is no coincidence; they all operate on the same principle

•Lidar units, generally little cylindrical protrusions in which the laser and detector spin around, can be found on many an autonomous car and prototype. Because they produce a reasonably detailed 3D image, they enable computer vision systems in the car’s electronic brain to tell the difference between a car and a truck, a bike and a motorbike, even an adult and a child. That’s important: those things all act differently and may require the car to slow down, make more room on one side or another, and so on.

PROS Uses a semiconductor called indium gallium arsenide, which operates in the infrared spectrum at a relatively long wavelength that allows for higher power and thus longer ranges for airborne laser scanning Greater accuracy in 3-D imaging Utilizes more technology than physical labour, thus creating more opportunities to grow within the technology sector Completes imaging in a timely matter Apart from using LiDAR imaging to assist with geographical analysis on Earth, it can also be used to construct automobiles and help with topographies in space. CONS The technology at its current state is not targeted for the common household. LiDAR technology is currently only used for large-scale projects and analytic purposes. LiDAR imaging is expensive. Tremendous trust and investment into the technology sector is required for LiDAR imaging to improve with time. Fewer physical job