Laser system may let autonomous vehicles see around corners

Autonomous vehicles are getting much better at sensing their surroundings, but even they still need to be able to directly see a hazard to react to it. Now, a Stanford team is developing a laser-based system that may allow driverless cars to see around blind corners, and come to a stop before a child runs out or another car speeds by.

By Michael Irving

6 Mar 2018

Stanford researchers David Lindell (left) and Matt O’Toole work on a laser-based system that can detect hidden objects around corners (Credit: L.A. Cicero)

In order to image objects beyond direct line-of-sight, the technique involves bouncing laser pulses around a corner, off the desired object and back. A highly sensitive sensor captures the returning photons of light, an algorithm analyzes them and the end result is a fuzzy snapshot of something lurking just out of sight.

In future, the researchers plan to work on speeding up the scans, improving the system's ability to work in daylight and detect moving objects.

The research was published in the journal Nature. The team describes the project in the video below.

Source: Stanford

Continue reading the full article on New Atlas.

Share this article

NextOptions

Source: New Atlas

New Atlas is about the amazing potential of human endeavour. From DNA-scanning smartphones to the latest advances in autonomous transport, New Atlas examines how new discoveries, products and technological innovations affect our ability to interact with and understand the people around us and the world we share.

Go to: https://newatlas.com/

About Michael Irving

A lifelong reader and writer, Michael has always been fascinated by space, history and, of course, dinosaurs. When not reading about or listening to podcasts on those subjects, you can probably find him sampling fancy-pants beers, playing video games, or excessively quoting The Simpsons.