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A comment on Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Universal Hands Free. Parent comment

Re:Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Univ... by slashdave on Thursday December 11, 2025 @01:46PM (#46235316)
In terms of plain wattage, it cannot be dangerous. Unless, of course, you were to stand with your eye up against the sensor and maybe stare at it for a few minutes.
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Re:Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Univ... by eutectic on Thursday December 11, 2025 @02:22PM (#46235916)
Lidars use pulsed lasers with peak powers up to the kW range.
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Re:Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Univ... by culi on Friday December 12, 2025 @04:51PM (#46249443)
Yes but failure cases are still possible. A stuck mirror or frozen phased array can result in a continuous beam.

Engineers should design in a way where the worst case possible is the assumption not the exception

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