Velodyne LiDAR sensor is seen on top of a vehicle at the Blackberry Ltd. QNX headquarters in Ottawa, Ontarion, Canada, on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. BlackBerry Ltd. and Canada are opening a research center for self-driving cars that raises the possibility of government backing for the former smartphone maker's automotive software unit. Photographer: Chris Roussakis/Bloomberg
Spacecraft use it to measure distance. Farmers use it to work out which fields need fertiliser. Archaeologists use it to map topography. And, crucially for Uber Technologies Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Waymo, self-driving cars use Lidar to navigate.
As carmakers and technology entrants scramble to develop autonomous vehicles, Lidar has become a highly coveted technology. And now it’s at the centre of a lawsuit pitting Waymo against Uber, the ride hailing upstart seeking to create its own autonomous vehicle empire.
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