A chaotic market for one sensor stalls self-driving cars

A Velodyne LiDAR sensor is seen mounted on a self-driving vehicle during a self-racing cars event at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California, U.S., April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/Files

Automakers and technology companies racing to develop self-driving vehicles are running into a problem: cars that can think are no good without affordable and reliable technology that allows cars to see. 

With the notable exception of Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc, most automakers have said their self-driving cars will rely on a detection system known as lidar. The state of the art sensors use laser light pulses to render precise images of the environment around the car.