Google (microblogging) parent company Alphabet has just taken an important step to make its driverless cars cheaper and faster.
John Krafcik, CEO of Alphabet's driverless car company Waymo, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Detroit car on Sunday. Krafsick said the company cut the cost of lidar (lidar), a key component of driverless cars, by 90%.
Lidar is the most expensive part of a driverless car. Krafsick mentioned in his speech that the cost of a laser radar a few years ago was $75,000. Lidars are typically placed at the top of the car, which emits laser light around, drawing high-resolution maps around the car.
Krafsick said: "A few years ago, the cost of a laser radar on a roof was as high as $75,000. Today, we have cut its cost by more than 90%. With the development of scale, we can do better. Let this technology be used by thousands of people."
Krafsick also said that Waymo is also developing autonomous driverless car hardware to ensure its scale.
If Waymo can really cut the cost of lidar by more than 90%, then the price of the part should be around $7,500. In the early prototypes of driverless cars, Waymo used the laser radar produced by Velodyne.
Since working with Waymo, Velodyne has lowered the price of its lidar, which ranges from $8,000 to $30,000 depending on the number of lasers emitted. Ford and Chinese Internet company Baidu have invested $150 million in Velodyne to drive the development of their driverless car program.
After Google broke up with Velodyne in December 2015, it began recruiting mechanical engineers to develop a new laser radar system.
Unmanned technology scale
Waymo is actively promoting its driverless cars to the market. Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, which was founded last December and whose main task is to develop driverless cars.
Alphabet is currently actively working with Fiat Chrysler, which offers 100 Pacifica cars. These cars with the Waymo driverless system will be tested on the roads in Arizona and California in the United States later this month.
Waymo recently adjusted its driverless car program and seems to be interested in accelerating the pace of the market. Waymo has previously pursued driverless cars without steering wheels, brakes and throttles. However, in December last year, Waymo said that due to the regulatory environment, it is still necessary to retain the driver's control.
Waymo made this decision in part because of the frustration of its pursuit of a steering-free driverless car, and partly because of the increasing pressure from Uber, the originator of taxi applications. Uber has been experimenting with driverless cars on the highway for several months.
Waymo also said that it will not involve car manufacturing, but tends to provide driverless technology to other car companies. By independently developing hardware, rather than outsourcing to Velodyne, and focusing on reducing the cost of parts, this is in line with Waymo's strategic direction.
Waymo believes that driverless technology can be used for car sharing, personal travel, public transportation systems, and even cargo trucks.
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