Lidar is a technology that utilizes the idea of radar, but with another medium. The same way as radar uses a sound wave, lidar uses a pulsing beam of different nature — concentrated light, also known as, laser. Which stands for the first part of its name, as you can guess.
And although its main purpose seems to be among near future vehicles, maybe not flying, but expectedly self-driving, the range of its field of use is surprisingly wide.
Angus Pacala, the co-founder and CEO of Ouster, a San Francisco lidar startup, even says that his company never view the technology as exclusively automotive related. And expresses a wish to operate in many different markets.
