<story><title>Uber starts self-driving car pickups in Pittsburgh</title><url>https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/14/1386711/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Animats</author><text>Well, they certainly didn&amp;#x27;t under-sensor the thing. The big model Velodyne LIDAR, a small LIDAR looking upward, stereo cameras in all directions, and probably some radars.&lt;p&gt;The big rotating Velodyne thing has got to go. But so far, nobody who claims to have a suitable solid-state 3D LIDAR is actually shipping. Quanergy claimed a solid-state LIDAR suitable for automotive use [1][2] and showed it at CES, but never shipped. Their web site hasn&amp;#x27;t been updated since 2015.   They were aiming at a price point around $100.&lt;p&gt;Advanced Scientific Concepts has a suitable LIDAR that costs far too much.  Space-X uses an ASC unit on the Dragon capsule for docking. ASC announced they were getting into automotive in 2012 but never shipped.[3]&lt;p&gt;Somebody is going to do this soon.  The technology works. It&amp;#x27;s a cost problem.  Once the cost comes down, cars can have multiple LIDARs (at least fore and aft) near the top of the windshield and rear window. This gets rid of all that topside gear.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.quanergy.com&amp;#x2F;products&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.quanergy.com&amp;#x2F;products&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt; 
[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;on-demand.gputechconf.com&amp;#x2F;gtc&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;presentation&amp;#x2F;s6726-louay-eldada-quanergy-systems.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;on-demand.gputechconf.com&amp;#x2F;gtc&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;presentation&amp;#x2F;s6726...&lt;/a&gt;
[3] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.advancedscientificconcepts.com&amp;#x2F;applications&amp;#x2F;automotive.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.advancedscientificconcepts.com&amp;#x2F;applications&amp;#x2F;autom...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jhayward</author><text>Quanergy raised $90 million on a $1.5 billion valuation last month.  They announced products at $250 &amp;#x2F;unit and $100 &amp;#x2F; unit starting production in Q4 with full capacity Q1 2017.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fortune.com&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;22&amp;#x2F;self-driving-car-quanergy&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fortune.com&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;22&amp;#x2F;self-driving-car-quanergy&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Uber starts self-driving car pickups in Pittsburgh</title><url>https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/14/1386711/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Animats</author><text>Well, they certainly didn&amp;#x27;t under-sensor the thing. The big model Velodyne LIDAR, a small LIDAR looking upward, stereo cameras in all directions, and probably some radars.&lt;p&gt;The big rotating Velodyne thing has got to go. But so far, nobody who claims to have a suitable solid-state 3D LIDAR is actually shipping. Quanergy claimed a solid-state LIDAR suitable for automotive use [1][2] and showed it at CES, but never shipped. Their web site hasn&amp;#x27;t been updated since 2015.   They were aiming at a price point around $100.&lt;p&gt;Advanced Scientific Concepts has a suitable LIDAR that costs far too much.  Space-X uses an ASC unit on the Dragon capsule for docking. ASC announced they were getting into automotive in 2012 but never shipped.[3]&lt;p&gt;Somebody is going to do this soon.  The technology works. It&amp;#x27;s a cost problem.  Once the cost comes down, cars can have multiple LIDARs (at least fore and aft) near the top of the windshield and rear window. This gets rid of all that topside gear.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.quanergy.com&amp;#x2F;products&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.quanergy.com&amp;#x2F;products&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt; 
[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;on-demand.gputechconf.com&amp;#x2F;gtc&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;presentation&amp;#x2F;s6726-louay-eldada-quanergy-systems.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;on-demand.gputechconf.com&amp;#x2F;gtc&amp;#x2F;2016&amp;#x2F;presentation&amp;#x2F;s6726...&lt;/a&gt;
[3] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.advancedscientificconcepts.com&amp;#x2F;applications&amp;#x2F;automotive.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.advancedscientificconcepts.com&amp;#x2F;applications&amp;#x2F;autom...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>spade</author><text>Since self-driving cars are still a new experience for most people, all of that visible topside gear might give riders a sense of security.</text></comment>