Interview: Anand Gopalan, Chief Technology Officer, Velodyne LiDAR

Today, cameras and sensors are already playing a crucial role in helping to enhance vehicle safety. Several advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that are featured on most new cars, such as lane departure warning and automatic high beam, use cameras and sensors to function.

An array of cameras and sensors will also be needed on cars to ensure they can operate autonomously. Early demonstrations of highly autonomous driving from OEMs such as Tesla have shown that it may be possible to use cameras and radars to achieve autonomous driving. However, some experts are convinced that LiDAR will play a crucial role.