Lights, Camera, Action...The Necessity of Cameras in Autonomous Vehicles

Who knew something that we use to take selfies with would be a major component to people never having to drive again?

At one point, this was not even an idea that were in people's minds!

In an earlier post, I emphasized how the prevalence of autonomous vehicles is on the rise in today's society. And with that, it may be important to know how exactly an autonomous vehicle is getting you from point A to point B, in the quickest, safest, and most efficient way possible.

Therefore, it is only fitting to talk about one of the most important components first...cameras.

With autonomous vehicles, particularly Level 4 and 5, there are 3 main cameras that go along with the sensing side of the vehicle, enabling its autonomy: LiDar, Radar, and Image cameras.

LiDar

The name LiDar actually stands for "Light detection and ranging" and is one of the most important cameras for an autonomous vehicle. A LiDar is able to dish out millions of laser beams into the environment, enabling the vehicle to create a 3-D map of almost everything around it plus more as it learns its environment thanks to artificial intelligence.

Radar

Just as a typical radar would work, the one on an autonomous vehicle is no different. The radar allows the vehicle to determine the distance between other objects and then itself. Typically with the help of sound, the radar is very effective in monitoring its location and speed relative to many other aspects of the environment.

Image

The image camera may be one of the most basic of the cameras, but is still immensely important. When a vehicle needs to know what is around it, including lights, signs, and pedestrians, the image camera is able to pick up on this and send it to the AI for further processing.

So now when you read something like the following quote about the high-autonomy level car, Waymo,

Our sensors and software scan constantly for objects around the vehicle—pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles, road work, obstructions—and continuously read traffic controls, from traffic light color and railroad crossing gates to temporary stop signs. Our vehicles can see up to three football fields away in every direction - Waymo

You can understand a little more about the technology that is enabling the vehicle to operate in such a way!