[rsp1984]

I found your reply kind of odd. Why would Waymo get it into the business of selling LIDAR sensors so that hobbyists could use them in their projects when that clearly isn't their business model.

Because let me assure you that an affordable, reliable, accurate and mass-produced LiDAR would be a complete game changer in so many industries, not only automotive: Robotics/Drones, AR/VR, industrial, construction, surveillance, etc...

Give this technology a small enough package and price and it would go into literally billions of smart devices.

[somberi]

I just came across this, and have not used it. May be something you are looking for?

http://scanse.io/

[_joel]

Don't forget another solid state scanner, available now with development kits - http://leddartech.com/modules/leddarvu/

[rsp1984]

Yes, it's early days though. What's currently out there generally lacks speed/coverage and accuracy. The real breakthroughs will come with solid-state LiDAR but it's still a couple years out from mass-market availability. Lots of companies working on it though.