The radar beam for self-driving cars can be steered across a wide field of view or focus on a small area to help identify objects, barriers, or other interference.
Mar 16, 2020Mark Harris
Echodyne Shows Off Its Cognitive Radar for Self-Driving Cars
Echodyne's next-generation cognitive radar system is inspired by human vision
As a transportation technology journalist, I’ve ridden in a lot of self-driving cars, both with and without safety drivers. A key part of the experience has always been a laptop or screen showing a visualization of other road users and pedestrians, using data from one or more laser-ranging lidar sensors.
Ghostly three-dimensional shapes made of shimmering point clouds appear at the edge of the screen, and are often immediately recognizable as cars, trucks, and people.
At first glance, the screen in Echodyne’s Ford Flex SUV looks like a lidar visualization gone wrong. As we explore the suburban streets of Kirkland, Washington, blurry points and smeary lines move across the display, changing color as they go. They bear little resemblance to the vehicles and cyclists I can see out of the window.
