GM IS DEVELOPING A LIDAR SYSTEM

By Eric Descarries

As published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, American giant General Motors is reportedly developing its own LIDAR (LIght Detecting And Ranging) system that would be essential for autonomous cars. Despite the fact that Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the study for this kind of system is a waste of money, GM has recently published that there have been significant improvements to LIDAR in terms of sensor range.

The system uses light waves projected by a sensor that bounce off nearby objects. These waves return to the sensor which will allow the system to determine the shape of the object and its distance. Thus the system will be able to see and “read” its environment. Lenses around the sensor will help to capture more light. GM plans to adopt this system on its Cadillac Celestiq starting in 2024, as will Volvo and soon Mercedes-Benz.