Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics

Re:Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics by Zigurd on Monday February 23, 2026 @09:45AM (#47122997)

Maybe. But Google has been there in a sensor laden car, overhead with an airplane, and buying all the access that is available in satellite imagery, and fusing that together in a continually updated model. Plus real time data from a billion maps and navigation users. I pity the fool going up against that.

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Re:Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics by Ajedi32 on Monday February 23, 2026 @09:56AM (#47123101)

I don't think Waymo is using Street View / satellite data to drive. They have to build an HD map using a special LIDAR-equipped vehicle before deploying in a new area.

Maybe their navigation system will be better than the competition due to real-time traffic data from Google Maps users, but I don't think it'll be so much better as to be an unbeatable advantage.

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Re:Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics by daemonologist on Monday February 23, 2026 @11:17AM (#47124367)

They use LIDAR maps in service areas, but might be using Street View data for training? (I imagine it would be really, really difficult to build a useful simulator with just SV imagery, but probably also quite valuable to have the variety of environments.)

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Re:Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics by denimnerd42 on Monday February 23, 2026 @01:57PM (#47126962)

did you see this, they can build a simulator from sv images. https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/the-waymo-world-model-a-new-f... even the lidar part

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