GM Ups the Ante in Driverless Vehicles

General Motors goes after Strobe sensor tech company

Strobe makes own version of LiDAR sensor seen in many driverless vehicles

Falling prices for the sensor, estimates show  99% reduction, will enable driverless vehicle to go to market much sooner. GM pounced on the opportunity to drive forward with its autonomous vehicle program and acquired California start-up Strobe on Monday. From CNBC

Strobe was able to reduce the costs of its sensor because according to CEO Kyle Vogt, "it collapses the LiDAR into a single chip." It shoots laser beams all around and maps out the distance and shapes of the environment based on how fast the light bounces off objects. From Axios

LiDOR sensor in smallest form

GM acquired Cruise, a driverless vehicle technology company, last year to make their own inroads into autonomous vehicles. The Detroit automaker has made tremendous strides since then as it strives to catch up to Google, Tesla, and other Silicon Valley AV programs.

Experts now place GM a close second to Google's Waymo in driverless vehicle progress. GM has put the pedal down in building up data by logging mile after mile with its driverless vehicles in the difficult streets of San Francisco the past year.