Sense Photonics is bringing its new solid state flash LIDAR to market. They are the more compact, non spinning type. Sense is focusing on wide angle and short range. They cost $2900 a piece.
Sense Solid-State Flash LiDAR - Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics brings its fancy new flash lidar to market – TechCrunch
I am a big LIDAR fan. I know LIDAR has some strengths that make them a good sensor for autonomous driving. I am very happy to see the new LIDAR is moving away from the bulky spinning types and becoming more compact. But Sense's LIDAR still seems a bit expensive. You would need at least 4 units for an autonomous car which means a total cost of over $10k per car. That would probably ruin your profit margin. Not sure if buying in bulk would bring the cost down enough.
I could see it maybe working for ride hailing company that intends to build a big enough fleet of robotaxis and then hopes to recoup the costs over time from the service, especially with the savings from not needing to pay human drivers and cheaper insurance. But I can see why Tesla is not interested in LIDAR. There is no way Tesla could afford to put LIDAR on hundreds of thousands of cars. Maybe Tesla would consider LIDAR on just the robotaxis if the price comes down more?
Thoughts?
Sense Solid-State Flash LiDAR - Sense Photonics
Sense Photonics brings its fancy new flash lidar to market – TechCrunch
I am a big LIDAR fan. I know LIDAR has some strengths that make them a good sensor for autonomous driving. I am very happy to see the new LIDAR is moving away from the bulky spinning types and becoming more compact. But Sense's LIDAR still seems a bit expensive. You would need at least 4 units for an autonomous car which means a total cost of over $10k per car. That would probably ruin your profit margin. Not sure if buying in bulk would bring the cost down enough.
I could see it maybe working for ride hailing company that intends to build a big enough fleet of robotaxis and then hopes to recoup the costs over time from the service, especially with the savings from not needing to pay human drivers and cheaper insurance. But I can see why Tesla is not interested in LIDAR. There is no way Tesla could afford to put LIDAR on hundreds of thousands of cars. Maybe Tesla would consider LIDAR on just the robotaxis if the price comes down more?
Thoughts?