LiDAR Major Luminar Wants To Make Autonomous Cars Look Cool 

Luminar, the LiDAR startup which is making waves in silicon valley is developing new LiDARs which are miniature in nature from what we have seen so far on self-driving cars from pioneers like Waymo. It is a part of an effort at the company that strives to make self-driving cars look cooler revealed an interview with its CEO Austin Russell on the Protocol. 

In one of its prototype Toyota RAV4 SUVs, Luminar shows off its latest LiDAR technology where it has managed to reduce the sensor hub to a single strop that pops out like a cyclopes visor above the windshield instead of a full hub above the roof. 

This new vehicle is currently being shown to regulators, partners and investors and if Russell is to have his way, this technology will become commonplace on vehicles all around the world. 

While it is not a spinning array on top of the car, it still isn't meant to be fully discrete. It is meant to indicate that the car uses self-driving technology. In a way, it is also meant to signify how cutting edge the vehicle is in the way racing stripes point towards the performance of a vehicle. 

The RAV4 uses a system called the Iris which pushes through a real-time feed. It is an affordable and diminutive high power laser array that can collect real-time, 3D view of the cat with about 120 degrees in the field of view upto 250 metres away from the vehicle. 

The Luminar Blade system

This was part of Luminar's plan which never involved making a self-driving vehicle, but instead, invent technology that would democratise autonomous driving technology. Now the Iris LiDAR has been embedded in the visor like an array that Luminar calls Blade. And Luminar expects the Blade system will find its way in all kinds of autonomous cars, robot taxis and more. For this, it is working with industry stalwarts like Volvo, Daimler Trucks and even AI startup PONY.AI. 

The Blade system includes a variety of vehicle types including whole-hog redesigns for taxis and trucks. It can integrate the Iris LiDAR into the roof in different ways. This flexibility is what it believes is key to democratising autonomous technology. 

Russell believes that the LiDAR can go beyond just autonomous tech as it can even improve existing crash avoidance systems. That alone will be one of the reasons the Blade System will be deployed en masse. 

That being said, the system remains prohibitively expensive even at $50,000 which means getting the autonomous bit right will be key. That remains an ever-evolving process but in the meanwhile, Luminar has made the most strides in getting the form factor right and the design to be adaptable.