lidar
part of speech
noun (lidar — usually no plural; lidar scanners)
meaning for a pupil
1) A way of measuring distance by sending out quick flashes of laser light and timing how long they take to bounce back. tree →
2) The machine or sensor that does this, as on a self-driving car or a survey plane. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and technology lessons lidar is an example of how machines "see": like a bat's echo, but with light instead of sound. It is used to map forests, find hidden ruins under trees, measure sea ice and help robots and driverless cars avoid things. In stories about the future it tells the reader a machine is scanning its surroundings. Phrases: lidar scan, lidar sensor, lidar map.
examples
- The self-driving car has a spinning lidar on its roof. tree →
- Scientists used lidar to find old Mayan cities hidden under the jungle. tree →
- A lidar sensor measures how far away the wall is. tree →
- The plane flew over the hills to make a lidar map. tree →
- Some new phones use lidar to measure a room. tree →
- Lidar works a bit like a bat's echo, but with light. tree →
- The robot vacuum uses lidar so it doesn't bump into the sofa. tree →
note
Pronounced LY-dar. It comes from "light detection and ranging" (like radar, which uses radio waves). Usually uncountable: "lidar shows…"; "a lidar" means one sensor. Do not confuse with radar (radio waves) or sonar (sound). Light travels so fast that lidar measures tiny times; distance = speed × time ÷ 2, because the light goes there and back.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «lidar» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.