(LiDAR) system, which worked like light-based radar. Together with cameras and radar, LiDAR mapped the environment.
When Google unveiled its first autonomous cars in 2010, the spinning cylinder mounted on the roofs really stood out. It was the vehicle’s light detection and ranging system, which worked like light-based radar. Together with cameras and radar, LiDAR mapped the environment to help these cars avoid obstacles and drive safely.
That may be about to change, thanks to a new type of high-resolution LiDAR chip developed by Ming Wu, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and co-director of the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center at the University of California, Berkeley. The new design appears Wednesday, March 9, in the journalWu’s LiDAR is based on a focal plane switch array , a semiconductor-based matrix of micrometer-scale antennas that gathers light like the sensors found in digital cameras.
Yet, putting these capabilities on a chip has stymied researchers for more than a decade. The most imposing barrier involves the laser. Thermo-optic switches, however, are both large and power-hungry. Jam too many onto a chip, and they will generate too much heat to operate properly. This is why existing FPSAs have been limited to 512 pixels or less.
They are the reason Wu can cram 16,384 pixels on a 1-centimeter-square chip. When the switch turns on a pixel, it emits a laser beam and captures the reflected light. Each pixel is equivalent to 0.6 degrees of the array’s 70-degree field of view. By cycling rapidly through the array, Wu’s FPSA builds up a 3D picture of the world around it. Mounting several of them in a circular configuration would produce a 360-degree view around a vehicle.
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