Handling is a system that robots and autonomous vehicles use to gather information about the world around them. They can map the ground and calculate distances from objects, for example. Recently, the company Voyant Photonics announced a tiny lidar system.Lidar is the ideal technology for determining average distances from an object, which is why it is often used in cars. In the case of long distances, radar is the most suitable, and for short distances, the ultrasonic method is the best option.However, a disadvantage of this system is its size, as lasers and sensors take up a considerable amount of space. Currently, even the most compact Lidar on the market is the size of a hand - what is normally used in vehicles is even larger.A smaller Lidar could be installed in various places in the car, providing valuable information about the vehicle's positioning without interfering with other functions or compromising the design.Lidar emerged with the idea of a single laser traveling the same space several times per second, and thus, calculating the distance of objects. But such a laser is large, slow, and prone to failures, so companies are seeking other substitute technologies such as illuminating the entire scene at once (Flash Lidar) or directing the beam through complex electronic surfaces (metamaterials).The company Voyant managed to create a very small chip that does not have all these mechanical problems. "We are talking about cubic centimeters of volume. There are many larger electronics that cannot accommodate Lidar technology," said Voyant co-founder Steven Miller.This chip is capable of moving and emitting light, so, in addition to being a compact device, it also combines transmitter and receiver in a single piece. "The silicon photonic architecture we use allowed us to build a very sensitive receiver on the chip, something that would be difficult to assemble in traditional optics. That's why we were able to create Lidar's high performance in a very small package," Miller explained.Voyant's Lidar is still in the first phase of funding, and the team's focus is to take the technology out of the laboratory and put it in the hands of engineers and developers. So far, the estimated cost of the project is $4.3 million.In addition to the main sector, automotive, the team is also in negotiations with other potential partners."We are talking to various sectors such as drones, robotics, maybe augmented reality. We are trying to figure out where this is most interesting for people," explained Chris Phare, Voyant co-founder.Source: Tech Crunch