How does self-driving autopilot work? Explain like I’m 5

Autonomous vehicles need sensors that can resolve small details in a split second regardless of the weather or how dark it is because they won’t have a driver to make decisions for them. Laser-based probe known as LIDAR and a miniature version of the communications technology that keeps the internet running are the two components of a solution to this difficult problem.

You may be wondering, “What is LIDAR?” I thought you said it was a five-year-old explanation! I’ve got you covered, fam!

So think of radar antennas, radar antennas in aviation fire radio or microwave pulses at planes to determine their location by timing how long the beams take to bounce back. However, that is a limited way of seeing because the large beam-size cannot see fine details. A self-driving car’s LIDAR system, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, on the other hand, employs a narrow invisible infrared laser. It can detect details as small as a button on a pedestrian’s shirt across…