2. LiDAR technology

LiDARs are active sensors that illuminate the environment with laser light. That is, they use an optical field transmitted from a laser that interacts with a distant object. The scattered light is then detected by a receiver system to derive information about the object. They can be thought of as microwave radar systems operating in the visible or infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The use of shorter wavelengths of infrared and visible light means that LiDARs have much higher angular resolution and range accuracy than radar systems. They can control lighting and operate day and night, offering an advantage over passive perception systems. LiDAR systems offer better resolution than microwave radar and greater sensitivity than video cameras. These characteristics enable them to provide images much closer to what the eye is used to seeing than radar images, and at distances beyond...