LiDAR sensors have been hailed as a necessary step towards achieving greater, more widespread adoption of semi-autonomous or autonomous driving. Still, a new study conducted by a trio of universities has demonstrated how easy lidar spoofing can thwart the technology’s ability to perceive hazards.
From an article in Car Buzz by Karl Furlong.
The study was a joint effort between the University of Florida, the University of Michigan, and the University of Electro-Communications based in Japan. Researchers from these institutions demonstrated that using laser-based spoofing techniques can disrupt LiDAR’s perceptive abilities to an alarmingly effective degree, to the point where an autonomous vehicle (AV) will collide with a pedestrian it would generally be able to perceive.
If lasers are directed at self-driving cars, the LiDAR system will be unable to process the necessary data to initiate an evasive maneuver. For example, the vehicle won’t begin an emergency braking procedure, making it far more vulnerable to collisions with other cars or pedestrians.
By pointing a laser at the LiDAR camera, the system mistakenly processes this disruptive laser signal instead of the signal that receives reflections from real objects. Hence, the car is unable to identify obstacles.
The result is effectively a blinded LiDAR system and the vehicle losing the required accuracy of its autonomous features. While nobody is likely to point lasers at LiDAR-equipped vehicles, the study reveals a shortcoming in the tech that has, until now, been overlooked.
For the complete article on lidar spoofing CLICK HERE.
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