Many of the car makers and tech firms currently developing self-driving vehicles source sensory equipment from external suppliers, but General Motors Co. intends to build its own. To that end, the auto giant today said it has acquired Strobe Inc., a low-key hardware startup based in Pasadena, California.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, GM did reveal that Strobe has spent the past three years developing a compact LiDAR sensor designed to lower the cost of producing self-driving cars.

LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is the go-to method autonomous vehicles use to survey their environments. LiDAR systems work by continuously firing off laser pulses in a circular pattern and measuring how they’re reflected from nearby objects. The individual data points are pieced together into a real-time map of the environment that is not only constantly refreshed, but also provides a high level of detail.

The problem is that LiDAR systems can be quite expensive. Velodyne LiDAR Inc., the leading supplier of such hardware, charges tens of thousands of dollars for its most accurate models. Manufacturing costs will have fall significantly if self-driving cars are to become a common sight on the roads.  

GM believes that the technology developed by Strobe could be the key. Kyle Vogt, the head of the company’s Cruise self-driving car group, wrote in a blog post that the startup’s LiDAR system is 99 percent cheaper than traditional alternatives.

One of the ways Strobe has cut the price tag is by shrinking the components. Vogt told Wired that the sensor takes the form of a chip small enough to fit in a person’s hand, a far cry from the often bulky systems offered by the likes of Velodyne.

Other emerging players in the LiDAR race are going down a similar path. Luminar Technologies Inc., which raised $34 million in funding earlier this year, is aiming to develop a sensor that costs less than $100 within three years. The startup is already supplying hardware for Toyota Motor Corp.’s autonomous vehicles.  

Together with Strobe’s technology, GM is absorbing its 11-person team to help it keep pace with the competition. The team is set to join Kyle Vogt’s Cruise group, which itself became part of the auto maker through an acquisition last year.

Such strategic deals represent one of several avenues through which GM is investing in autonomous driving. Around the same time as the Cruise acquisition, the company led a $500 million round into Lyft Inc. to jumpstart a collaboration that is reportedly set to see thousands of self-driving cars put on the road starting next year.

Image: GM