Will autonomous car sensors interfere with each other across cars?

[zmarty]

Once autonomous cars get popular, is there a chance that LIDAR, radar, and even infrared light sensors and emitters would interfere with each other across cars? If yes, how?

For instance, isn't LIDAR using laser to emit and capture light? What happens if there are multiple LIDARs in cars on adjacent lanes?

 

[kort677]

just one of thousands of open ended issues that need to be addressed before FSD becomes a reality

 

[zmarty]

Relevant discussions I found about this subject:

How do autonomous cars distinguish between their sensor signals and those from other autonomous cars?

If two self-driving cars are on the road next to each other, and their ultrasonic sensors are projecting the same frequency, would the data become muddled? How can the manufacturers account for this? • r/askscience

 

[Tam]

...Relevant discussions...

As pointed out by the discussions' links, a car may have multiple LIDARs next to each other and there's no interference between them so I don't think it's a problem.

I don't know how they do it to only recognize their own signals and not others but apparently they can with the bombardment of all kinds of LIDAR, RADAR, Ultrasonic sensors.

 

[mblakele]

I expect Hedy Lamar had a hand in it: Spread spectrum - Wikipedia

 

[malcolm]

It's Hedley! HEDLEY!

 

[jimmy_d]

The cameras won't. And automotive radar has been designed with that issue in mind, so while there might be bugs in the implementation, the concept itself minimizes the chance of interference.