wiki-user: car

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 13th, 2023

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  • Cameras are (generally) passive systems. They do not send out light and analyze the returns. They just absorb light and reconstruct a scene.

    Radar systems are active. They send out pulses or continuous waves of EM energy at different frequencies than light (much lower) and analyze the returns. They do not need existing light to do their jobs because they’re sending out and receiving their own specific emissions. Because they run at lower frequencies than light, they are able to “see” through certain weather phenomena like fog and are relatively unfazed by darkness.

    That all being said, you can measure things passively and actively. Radar is pretty damn good at measuring distances, as that’s the entire reason behind its invention. I’d say its much more reliable and accurate compared to optical systems.