The lidar manufacturers are considering protective measures against cameras.
On the CES 2019 in Las Vegas there was an incident that now has consequences. A hobby photographer takes a picture of a vehicle equipped with lidar. The Lidar’s laser obviously damaged the camera. After the incident at the CES, the voices that want to regulate the Lidar and its lasers are increasing.
Lidar sensor on the roof
The safety regulations for the protection of the human eye determine the design of the lidar, These emit invisible infrared light at around 900 nanometers and thus cover a distance of up to 100 meters. For higher speeds, this is not enough to detect vehicles and prevent accidents.
A longer wavelength of new lidar systems achieves higher levels ranges and has no negative effects on the human eye. However, there is a danger to the eyes of humans when the laser beams arrive in parallel. As a result, the light intensity can be increased to a small point and thus damage the eye. Therefore, there are provisions that prevent this.
The danger may be high for cameras. Because the light rays hit the charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor, this could be affected. This had previously been hardly noticed by the development companies – until the incident at CES.
It’s not so much about cameras as it is about video cameras that are installed in vehicles and are the eyes of the assistance systems. That also has an impact on that Autonomous driving, Because even here, the camera sensors are used for the detection of objects or the lane marking.
For longer distances at the Lidar one resorts to 1,550 Nm wavelength. Such a technique uses, for example Luminarwith which you can cover a range of 250 meters and more. The human eye is immune to this, but camera sensors are more sensitive.
After the incident at CES, the company wanted AEye examine the camera in question, but the photographer replied that he would not find the camera. Although the images can be taken from a damage, but you can not correctly assess the damage without the camera. Because actually such cameras with filters are immune from it. However, it is based on infrared light with 900 nanometer wavelength.
As the incident of CES is also stored, experts argue that the eyelid manufacturers should not only focus on the safety of the human eye, but also of the cameras.
source (English)
About David Flora
I’ve been writing about Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and also talk about it on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de