High cost blocks wider use of safer sensors for self-driving cars in Japan

According to The Asahi Shimbun, automakers are competing to lower costs for next-generation, high-performance sensors that are expected to make self-driving vehicles much safer on the streets.
The new technology, called a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, uses laser light to precisely scan the shapes and locations of objects surrounding the vehicle.
LiDAR has been called the “eye” for automatically operated cars because the technology’s cognitive capability is higher than those of cameras and conventional radar sensors, which are based on radio waves.

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14609890