Lidar sensors are about to become a mainstream car feature

Auto-parts maker Bosch is getting into the lidar business, the company said in a Thursday announcement. That's significant because Bosch is a "tier 1" supplier—one of the few companies with the scale and infrastructure to supply parts directly to global car makers.

Little is known about Bosch's lidar. Bosch says the technology has been developed in-house and boasts a long range and a wide field of view. But the company declined to provide Ars Technica with hard numbers on range, field of view, cost, or other characteristics. That makes comparing Bosch's lidar to the competition a challenge.

But what Bosch's announcement does make clear is that lidar is about to shift from an experimental technology to an increasingly common feature on new cars. The fact that companies like Bosch are selling lidar means it will be feasible for major automakers to start offering lidar as an option. At least one carmaker—Audi—has already started shipping some cars with lidar. Audi's lidar is made by Bosch rival Valeo. As lidar technology becomes more mature and affordable, we can expect other carmakers to follow Audi's lead—much as radar became increasingly common in cars in the late 1990s and 2000s.