LIDAR is pretty cool because you don&#x27;t have to do object recognition on the point cloud to know what you shouldn&#x27;t be bumping into - since the data comes back &quot;already 3D&quot; you have distance and size information and just need to calculate speed. Another benefit LIDAR has is its high resolution as compared to RADAR.<p>Where LIDAR typically falls down is in adverse conditions (rain, snow, low sunlight in the horizon).  There&#x27;s a group at my university, MDAR, who is prototyping a tech to better overcome the adverse weather issues through a better laser sensing technique.<p>Here&#x27;s an article with a little more technical information [1].<p>Disclaimer: I&#x27;ve done some part time work on market research for MDAR.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;articles.sae.org&#x2F;13899&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;articles.sae.org&#x2F;13899&#x2F;</a>