4 ms·

If autonomous vehicles become a success you'll just be able to buy LIDARs for super cheap because the market for them will drive prices down significantly.

freehunter 9y ago
You'd think so, but there are a lot of things that have a big commercial market but are basically non-existent in the consumer space unless you're willing to rip them out of commercial products. As just one example, you can buy one 7" HDMI touchscreen (just the screen) for $100 shipped [1] or for the same money you can buy two Amazon Fire tablets with the same size screen but twice the resolution, plus it has a full mobile SOC with a quad core processor and a camera and I mean it's a full tablet. Not just the screen. And it's half the price. Even if Amazon is losing money on each Fire sold, I can't imagine they're losing that much. They're getting those screens for a hell of a lot cheaper than I can, and better quality too. I imagine LCD touchscreens have a far bigger consumer demand than LIDAR sensors ever will, so the dream of cheap LIDAR sensors from Sparkfun will forever remain a dream. Grabbing one from a junk yard will be the better option. [1] https://www.adafruit.com/product/2407 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2407 [2] https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Tablet-Alexa-Display-Black/dp/B01GEW27DA https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Tablet-Alexa-Display-Black/dp...
- ksk 9y ago
  Well buying anything in bulk will still be cheaper !
- icebraining 9y ago
  Adafruit is notoriously pricy. Here's one for $54 with free shipping: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-7-Capacitive-Touch-Screen-LCD-Display-IPS-1024x600-HDMI-For-Raspberry-Pi-/381182253906 http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-7-Capacitive-Touch-Screen-LCD-Di... But those include a "beefy DVI/HDMI decoder", which the tablet doesn't need, since it can dump the raw image directly from the graphics chip. You can probably find a cheaper version if you can do the same. EDIT: To corroborate my last point, a replacement screen for a Nexus 7 is just $22 (free shipping), and includes digitizer.
  - freehunter 9y ago
    Similarly, I'd imagine a LIDAR sensor built for a Cruise car to be $30 wholesale, $40 if you buy the exact same thing as an aftermarket replacement part, and $150 if you buy a standalone LIDAR sensor with the parts you need to actually use it. Because a replacement Nexus 7 screen isn't going to natively interface with my Raspberry Pi, and neither will a Cruise LIDAR sensor. A $30 part that needs a $20 interface isn't any better than a $50 part that includes the interface.

freehunter 9y ago

You'd think so, but there are a lot of things that have a big commercial market but are basically non-existent in the consumer space unless you're willing to rip them out of commercial products. As just one example, you can buy one 7" HDMI touchscreen (just the screen) for $100 shipped [1] or for the same money you can buy two Amazon Fire tablets with the same size screen but twice the resolution, plus it has a full mobile SOC with a quad core processor and a camera and I mean it's a full tablet. Not just the screen. And it's half the price. Even if Amazon is losing money on each Fire sold, I can't imagine they're losing that much. They're getting those screens for a hell of a lot cheaper than I can, and better quality too. I imagine LCD touchscreens have a far bigger consumer demand than LIDAR sensors ever will, so the dream of cheap LIDAR sensors from Sparkfun will forever remain a dream. Grabbing one from a junk yard will be the better option. [1] https://www.adafruit.com/product/2407 https://www.adafruit.com/product/2407 [2] https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Tablet-Alexa-Display-Black/dp/B01GEW27DA https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Tablet-Alexa-Display-Black/dp...

ksk 9y ago
Well buying anything in bulk will still be cheaper !
icebraining 9y ago
Adafruit is notoriously pricy. Here's one for $54 with free shipping: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-7-Capacitive-Touch-Screen-LCD-Display-IPS-1024x600-HDMI-For-Raspberry-Pi-/381182253906 http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-7-Capacitive-Touch-Screen-LCD-Di... But those include a "beefy DVI/HDMI decoder", which the tablet doesn't need, since it can dump the raw image directly from the graphics chip. You can probably find a cheaper version if you can do the same. EDIT: To corroborate my last point, a replacement screen for a Nexus 7 is just $22 (free shipping), and includes digitizer.
- freehunter 9y ago
  Similarly, I'd imagine a LIDAR sensor built for a Cruise car to be $30 wholesale, $40 if you buy the exact same thing as an aftermarket replacement part, and $150 if you buy a standalone LIDAR sensor with the parts you need to actually use it. Because a replacement Nexus 7 screen isn't going to natively interface with my Raspberry Pi, and neither will a Cruise LIDAR sensor. A $30 part that needs a $20 interface isn't any better than a $50 part that includes the interface.