General Motors last week purchased Pasadena, Calif.-based startup Strobe and its laser-based lidar imaging technology, according to an LA Times report.
Lidar technology is an essential part of autonomous vehicle’s navigation platforms, and allow for identifying objects and avoiding collisions, but has been costly and kept self-driving cars from seeing larger deployment, according to GM subsidiary Cruise Automation CEO Kyle Vogt.
“To solve these problems we’ve acquired Strobe, a company that has quietly been building the leading next-generation liar sensors,” Vogt said in a blog post, according to the report.
Strobe’s technology functions on a single chip, and could reduce lidar cost for the company significantly, Vogt said.
The acquired company’s CEO, Julie Schoenfield, and its 11 employees will be folded into GM’s Cruise, but will continue to be based in Pasadena, the LA Times reports.
Financial and other details of the deal were not disclosed.
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