Yandex self-driving cars are equipped with a hardware and software system that includes cameras, all-round lidar and radar. The lidar uses a light emitter to scan the environment, converting the information about ray reflections into a 3D map and calculating the precise distance to the obstacles in front of a car. The radar with a smaller angle of view tracks the distance to farther objects, which is crucial for cars running on higher speeds.

In addition, Yandex driverless car is equipped with sensors that track its location, speed and movement direction: GPS/GLONASS receivers, IMU and sensors that measure the rotation speed of certain wheels. The sensors use all the data they collect to enable a complex algorithm to produce a model of the environment that allows for the car to make its riding decisions. The system uses a variety of Yandex technologies, building from computer vision.

During year-round rides the self-driving car collects the data about the traffic environment to use it for further training of the technology. Before autonomous cars are allowed to ride on public roads, they undergo multiple tests in a closed-off testing site. A car using an autonomous vehicle technology has already ridden 780 km from Moscow to Kazan. A safety engineer was in the driver seat to take control of the car at any moment.