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Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Universal Hands Free

(riviantrackr.com)
328 points doctoboggan | 1 comments | 11 Dec 25 18:17 UTC | HN request time: 0.194s | source
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suprnurd ◴[11 Dec 25 18:38 UTC] No.46235191[source]▶
Where I live I am often surrounded by Waymo vehicles... is Lidar 100% safe for people to be around? I ask because I read an article about how Lidar on one of the new Volvos could destroy your phone camera if you pointed it at it? If Lidar can do that to a phone camera, can it hurt your eyes?
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OneDeuxTriSeiGo ◴[11 Dec 25 18:42 UTC] No.46235240[source]▶
Depends on the type of LIDAR. LIDAR rated for vehicle use is at a wavelength opaque to the eyes so it hits the surface and fluid of your eye and reflects back rather than going through to your cones and rods.

It isn't however opaque for optical glass (since the LIDAR has to shine through optical glass in the first place) so it hits your camera lens, goes straight through, and slams the sensor.

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1. dllu ◴[11 Dec 25 19:19 UTC] No.46235879[source]▶
You seem to be implying that all automotive lidar are 1550 nm but that's not true. While there are lots of 1550 nm automotive lidars (Luminar on Volvo, Seyond on NIO) there are also plenty of 850 nm to 940 nm lidars are used in cars (Hesai, Robosense, etc). Those can pass through water and get focused to your retina, but they are also a lot lower power so they do not damage cameras.