Pioneer's addition to driverless car: Microscopic mirrors

Japanese firm's new laser radar intended to drive its expansion into the burgeoning field of autonomous cars

When it comes to helping driverless cars see, automakers have a choice between bulky top-mounted contraptions or cheaper but unproven laser-on-a-chip technology. Pioneer Corp thinks it can deliver the best of both worlds.

The Japanese company has developed a new type of lidar — or laser radar — intended to drive its expansion into the burgeoning field of autonomous cars. At the Tokyo Motor Show this week, it’s showing off prototypes for the first time that use a swiveling, microscopic mirror to bounce pulses of light from surrounding objects. Because the device doesn’t employ the motor drive of its larger spinning