What is Lidar Technology?

Spacecraft use it to measure distance. Farmers use it to work out which fields need fertilizer. Archaeologists use it to map topography. And, crucially for Uber Technologies Inc. and Alphabet Inc. Waymo, self-driving cars use lidar to navigate.

As carmakers and technology entrants scramble to develop autonomous vehicles, lidar has become a highly coveted technology. And now it’s at the center of a lawsuit pitting Waymo against Uber, the ride hailing seeking to create its own autonomous vehicle empire. Waymo, the self-driving car business of Google parent Alphabet, accused Uber of stealing its lidar designs.

Lidar is a radar-like system that uses lasers instead of radio waves to build a 3-D image of the surrounding landscape. Since satellite navigation systems are only accurate to within a 16 Feet and can be easily flummoxed by high rise and glass fronted buildings, autonomous vehicles require an array of other sensors to position themselves precisely and maintain awareness of nearby pedestrians, vehicles and other objects.

Lidar comprises a series of rotating, stacked lasers that shoot out at different angles. Each layer is called a channel, and is made up of two laser beams. The signal from each individual channel creates one contour line, and together, those lines generate a 3-D image of the surrounding environment. That means that, the more lasers in each stack, the higher the resolution. Velodyne, for instance, manufactures products with 16, 32 and 64 laser channels.

The main hurdle to lidar becoming a widely adopted technology in mass-produced cars is cost. A 64-channel unit from Velodyne can cost more than $50,000, while the lower end 16-channel product sells for $7,999. Since a car might require several lidar units, it quickly makes the cost prohibitive for anything but the most expensive luxury cars. Velodyne and competitors such as Quanergy Systems Inc. are working to reduce the price. That would be accelerated by major orders for mass market cars.

The appeal of lidar has prompted a race for the technology. Automotive supplier Continental AG bought a lidar business from Advanced Scientific Concepts Inc. in 2016, while France’s Valeo SA has teamed up with Canada’s LeddarTech to supply the product.

Book Review – The Fountain Head

“The Fountain Head” is definitely one of the best books I’ve ever read. It tells the story of a few people in New York of the 20s – 30s. There are 5 characters about whom a lot is written, and these are main characters of the book. The characters are Howard Roark – a brilliant architect. He keeps faithful to his beliefs and ideology. It’s a story of his struggle against people and opinions that oppose that ideology.

Dominique Francon – Newspaper women. Throughout the book she gets married with most of the main characters Keating, Gail Wynand and Roark. Each marriage is, in my eyes, a symbol of a different union. She magnifies the difference between the people she marries. Gail Wynand - one of the most influential people in the city. Owner of a huge press empire, and in particular of "The New York Banner" - the most widely circulated paper in the city. Peter Keating - begins as an excellent architecture student and rises as a famous architect. Eventually falls to pieces. Ellsworth Toohey - a reporter and organizer of communities in unions.

Howard Roark’s strength lies in his work. He an honest man, never distracted by the worldly entities, dedicated and focused, behaving bluntly, mostly take him for being rude, clear mind, and emotionally strong. Work gives him joy. He enjoys his work. On the other hand, there is Peter Keating. He is one of the most realistic characters of the book. Believe in success, but his way of achieving it is not so a likeable method yet fondly practiced all over the world. 

The main theme of "The Fountainhead" is the struggle of the free mind, creativeness and individualism (all symbolized in Roark) against the common opinion, "second-handers", people who think only about what other people think. This main theme is very important, as it is the philosophical main idea of the book and most of the characters revolve around it. He is an independent architect, caring little about the opinion of others. He builds in order to build, to create "right" buildings. Dominique, Wynand and Toohey all "understand" the theme, but differently. Wynand raises himself about all others. He is a freak of power, caused by a difficult childhood. He despises all "second-handers" and aspires to rule them, bending their opinions at his will. Toohey is a very smart and sleek man and he understand how to influence "second-handers", and builds a great supporting around him, which isn't really explicitly felt as supporting by anyone. Eventually, it becomes clear that he wants to take over Wynand Empire.

The narrative is straight and the dialogues exchange between the characters of the book is what droves the plot forward. Not at a single point the book disappointed me, but rather after every chapter it made me curious that helped to read it with more eagerness. Rand’s characterization is well thought and maintained throughout the book. Objectivism is the professional theme of the novel. One might say that Love is a sub theme but I did not see it is a sub theme.

The book enlightened me on the subjects of Collectivism, Individualism, Altruism, and provoked the thought about how society works is a rat race gone all wrong. It will enlighten you about the human parasites/second-handers. Also, it unmasks those who are hell bent on killing the spirit of individualism and want to empower mediocrity because individualism promotes the genius of human mind and mediocrity kills that genius. 

India GST Rates in 2017

The Goods and Services Tax has been one of the key things that have caught the attention of the market given its implications on earnings of companies. The government has kept a large number of items under 18% tax slabs. The government categorized 1211 items under various tax slabs. Here is a low-down on the tax slab these items would attract. Gold and Rough diamonds do not fall under the current rate slab ambit and will be taxed at 3% and 0.25% respectively.

No Tax Goods & Services – No tax will be imposed on items like Jute, Fresh Meat, Fish chicken, Eggs, Milk, Butter Milk, Curd, Natural Honey, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Flour, Besan, Bread, Prasad, Salt, Bindi, Sindoor, Stamps, Newspapers etc. Hotels and Lodges with tariff below Rs 1,000, grandfathering service have been exempted under GST.

5% Goods & Services – Items such as Fish Fillet, Apparel below Rs 1000, packaged food items, footwear below Rs 500, cream, skimmed milk powder, branded paneer, frozen vegetables, Coffee, Tea etc. will attract tax of 5%. Transport Services, small restaurants will be under the 5% category because their main input is petroleum, which is outside GST ambit.

12% Goods & Services – Apparel above Rs 1000, Frozen meat products, butter, Cheese, Ghee, Dry Fruits in packaged form, Animal Fat, Sausage, Tooth Powder, Ayurvedic Medicines, Umbrella etc. will be under 12% tax slab. Non – AC hotels, business class air ticket, fertilizers, Work Contracts will fall under 12% GST tax slab.

18% Goods & Services – Most items under this tax slab which include Footwear costing more than Rs 500, Biscuits, Flavored refined sugar, Pasta, Cornflakes, Jams, Sauces, Tampons, Camera, Speaker and Monitors etc. AC Hotel that serve liquor, telecom services, IT services, branded garments and financial services will attract 18% tax under GST.

28% Goods & Services – Chewing Gum, Bidis, Pan Masala, Chocolate not containing Cocoa, Hair Shampoo, Ceramic Tiles, Water Heater, Washing Machine, ATM, Vacuum Cleaner, Shavers, Hair Clippers, Automobiles, Motorcycles, Aircraft for personal use etc. will attract 28% tax – the highest under GST system. 5-Star hotels, race club betting, cinema will attract tax 28% tax slab under GST.

Future of Electric Vehicles in India

Electric Vehicles are growing in popularity and certainly in mind space. They are cleaner and more efficient and even fun. Their growth, however, is still considered just a market problem. The end user should choose on the basis of what it costs to buy and run, or how it performs, etc. Markets matter but there is also a need for government and policy inputs. EVs, after all, operate within broader energy and transportation ecosystems with their own distortions. Unless we understand Indian-use cases, driver limitations and opportunities, we risk ambitious targets that remain aspirational.

Indians are famously value conscious. This is why consumers love diesel cars, despite their higher MRP and pollution relative to petrol counterparts. Even at today’s low oil prices, running a diesel sedan can cost about Rs3.8 per kilometre versus petrol’s Rs5.5. In contrast, CNG costs roughly Rs1.9/km, but it’s not widely available. The cost of EVs depends on electricity price, which varies significantly. At Rs7/kWh (kilowatt hour) of power, they cost only about Rs1.1/km. This saves consumers driving 5,000km per year over Rs 20,000 annually, and taxis much more as they drive 10-15 times as much.

The catch is the upfront cost. EVs are expensive, primarily because of the battery. A single kWh of electricity is enough to go about 6km, so a 200km “full tank” range requires about 35 kWh of battery. Today’s prices for lithium ion batteries are about $250/kWh globally, which comes to Rs 5.7 lakh in battery costs, excluding import duties. Even with an eight-year lifespan and a 12% interest rate, justifying the battery costs on per kilometre savings alone means one would have to drive over 25,000km per year. However, when battery prices fall to $100/kWh, as projected a few years out, EVs can become a game changer.

Range turns out to be key: 5,000km per year is only about 15km per day on average, while an urban taxi may do 300km daily. Higher range means not only more battery cost but weight as well. In an ideal world, we would have a smaller battery pack and simply recharge periodically. In practice, taxi and fleet vehicles can only charge overnight, and even private users may have limits on charging options. Without fast-charging infrastructure—fast-charging an EV requires much more power than household 15 amp sockets, which can only offer about 3 kW of power, so 35 kWh takes almost 12 hours to charge—one inevitably has “range anxiety”. Unlike the US, most Indians don’t have a personal garage. Hence, widespread and company-agnostic public charging infrastructure becomes a key policy choice.

Not only are EVs efficient – with regenerative braking capturing energy otherwise wasted and also due to the inherent efficiency of motors, especially at low speeds they pollute less. We should value such environmental co-benefits, not just carbon reductions. We could compensate cleaner vehicles through reduced registration charges, or even aim for mandating EVs for taxis and selected public transport vehicles. These are often diesel and thus far worse polluters.

There are other distortions to consider. Over half of petrol’s pump prices are for taxes. Petrol taxes are 1% of GDP and diesel 2% and fully switching to EVs means affecting 2% of GDP. Of course, oil is predominantly imported, so moving to EVs should be a worthwhile trade-off. Plus, over-time more and more electricity will come from renewable sources.