Alphabet Reduces Cost for Self-Driving Sensor
Posted on Jan 11, 2017 in Industry News | Comments Off on Alphabet Reduces Cost for Self-Driving Sensor
Waymo, the self-driving vehicle unit of Alphabet, Inc., has announced that it reached a milestone of building all of its self-driving hardware in-house. The company noted that it was able to cut the cost of a key component by 90% from its cost in 2009. The component uses “LiDAR” (similar to radar, but with light instead of radio waves) to detect a vehicle’s surroundings. Waymo debuted the new sensor on an autonomous Chrysler minivan at the Detroit Auto Show. The cost reduction in the sensor may be a step towards mass production of autonomous vehicles.
