Researchers Devise Novel Ultrafast Laser Beam Steering For Autonomous Cars That Is Less Complex, Uses Less Power
Tue, 04/10/2018 - 9:17am
by Purdue University
Researchers at Purdue University and Stanford University believe they have found a novel laser light sensing technology that is more robust and less expensive than currently available with a wide range of uses, including a way to guide fully autonomous vehicles.
The researchers say their innovation is orders of magnitude faster than conventional leading-edge laser beam steering devices that use phased antenna-array technology. The laser beam steering being tested and used by Purdue and Stanford is based on light-matter interaction between a silicon-based metasurface and short light pulses produced for example by a mode-locked laser with a frequency-comb spectrum. Such a beam-steering device can scan a large angle of view in nanoseconds or picoseconds compared with the microseconds current technology takes.
https://www.wirelessdesignmag.com/news/2018/04/researchers-devise-novel-ultrafast-laser-beam-steering-autonomous-cars-less-complex
