Luminar has already been working with Mercedes-Benz and other car manufacturers including Volvo and Nissan on honing its products for road use.
The Florida-based company’s light, detection and ranging - or LiDAR - system uses lasers to create a 3D map of the environment around a vehicle, enabling accurate detection of objects ahead in bad weather.
Luminar states it can detect debris up to 250 metres ahead, and objects at up to 500 metres.
The plan is to develop the system for use on the safety car during 2024, and if it is proven to the satisfaction of the FIA it will be introduced on race weekends, feeding back extra information on track conditions to race control.
Mercedes states that “the sensor would create a real-time 3D map of the environment ahead of the safety car, notably enhancing the safety car driver's ability to assess the situation on the track while maintaining the required high speeds”.
The equipment will be incorporated into the roofline of the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series that serves as the safety car.
Source: Autosport