Autonomous Cars: LIDAR vs. Cameras

Waymo cars look like they have a bucket spinning on the roof. That is a LIDAR (Laser Radar). Tesla cars look smooth. They use Cameras. Why the split?

LIDAR (The Perfect Map)

• Shoots millions of laser beams a second.
• Measures exact distance to every leaf and curb.
• Pro: Perfectly accurate 3D map. Works in the dark.
• Con: Expensive ($5,000+). Ugly. Can’t read signs (Color).

Cameras (The Human Way)

• Uses AI to interpret video.
• Pro: Cheap ($20). Can read signs and brake lights.
• Con: Hard to estimate distance. Blinded by sun/rain.

Robotics: The Low-Cost LIDAR

In FTC, we actually use a mix.

• 2D LIDAR: A spinning laser ($100) scans the walls to know where we are on the field.
• Camera: Looks for the colored game pieces to know what to grab. We use the best of both worlds because reliability wins matches.