How cars use Radar and Lidar to "see" the world!
Imagine trying to drive with a blindfold on - scary, right?
Self-driving cars need to "see" the road, other cars, pedestrians, and obstacles. They use special super-senses that are even better than human eyes!
Today we're going to learn about two of those super-senses: Radar and Lidar!
Click to see how Radar and Lidar detect objects!
RADAR stands for Radio Detection And Ranging
Remember how we learned radar works? It sends radio waves and listens for echoes!
Superpowers:
✅ Can see super far (like 200 meters!)
✅ Works in rain, fog, and snow
✅ Can tell how fast objects are moving
Weaknesses:
❌ Can't see small details
❌ Can't tell what color something is
LIDAR stands for Light Detection And Ranging
Imagine playing laser tag in the dark - Lidar does something similar! It shoots millions of tiny laser beams and measures how long they take to come back.
Superpowers:
✅ Creates detailed 3D maps
✅ Can see small objects and shapes
✅ Super accurate distance measurement
Weaknesses:
❌ Doesn't work as well in heavy rain/snow
❌ More expensive than radar
❌ Can't measure speed directly
Self-driving cars don't rely on just one sense - they use BOTH radar and lidar, plus cameras!
It's like having:
👂 Super hearing (Radar) - knows where things are far away
👀 Laser vision (Lidar) - creates detailed 3D map
📷 Regular eyes (Cameras) - knows what colors and signs mean
By combining all these, the car can be super safe!
🔴 Lidar sensors spin around like a police siren - 360 degrees!
🟢 A Lidar sensor can fire 300,000 laser beams per SECOND!
🔵 Google's self-driving car has a Lidar sensor on top that costs $75,000! (Getting cheaper now!)
🟡 Tesla currently doesn't use Lidar - they think cameras are enough!