Biggest risk is that a beam steering element stops while the emitters are running. Basically impossible with a phased array emitter like the article discusses.
And you'd probably have to be staring into the laser at close range while it was doing that.
The laser beams usually aren't tiny points like your laser pointer. Several centimeters across is more typical, especially at typical road distances. Your pupil is very small in comparison.
The optical hazard calculations are a very early part of the design of a LIDAR system, and all of this does get considered. Or should anyway.
Biggest risks are for people involved in R&D, where beams may be static and very close to personnel.
alt Hacker News
Basically not.
Biggest risk is that a beam steering element stops while the emitters are running. Basically impossible with a phased array emitter like the article discusses.
And you'd probably have to be staring into the laser at close range while it was doing that.
The laser beams usually aren't tiny points like your laser pointer. Several centimeters across is more typical, especially at typical road distances. Your pupil is very small in comparison.
The optical hazard calculations are a very early part of the design of a LIDAR system, and all of this does get considered. Or should anyway.
Biggest risks are for people involved in R&D, where beams may be static and very close to personnel.