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  • You can use a precise (+-2cm) Indoor "GPS": http://marvelmind.com/.

    Here a couple of demos:

  • finally got full text, web link to the robotic plane from the above video

    http://news.mit.edu/2012/autonomous-robotic-plane-flies-indoors-0810

    ---

    “The reason that we switched from the helicopter to the fixed-wing vehicle is that the fixed-wing vehicle is a more complicated and interesting problem, but also that it has a much longer flight time,” says Nick Roy, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and head of the Robust Robotics Group. “The helicopter is working very hard just to keep itself in the air, and we wanted to be able to fly longer distances for longer periods of time.”

    Autonomous robotic plane flies indoors
    New algorithms allow an autonomous robotic plane to dodge obstacles in a subterranean parking garage, without the use of GPS.
    • Hi Darius, I am very interested in your hyperspec development. Do you have a working model or video link etc..?    It sounds like their could be huge market potential for something like that. Also, I followed your links to the Lidar lite pages but could not see their LED versions anywhere. Have you had any luck sourcing this LED version?? 

      thanks

      • Hi bd,

        what "hyperspec" do you mean ?

        Pls refer me to the original message.

        If you know any market potential pls let me know.

        re: Lidar Lite, non-laser Lidar Lite, LED-based Lidar Lite

        What is featured on a number of promotional pictures by Lidar Lite group looks like

        non-laser UV LED/IR Led Lidar Lite

        but what is offered for sale is laser-only Lidar Lite version.

        Since developing Lidar Lite is like developing GPS receiver on your own ( really complicated thing) I plan to buy laser-based Lidar Lite and replace laser to UV/IR Led for tests (UV Led transmitter/receiver pair or IR Led transmitter/ receiver pair is available.

        At the same time I am developing Led-pointer to replace laser-pointer, to some extend to experiment with lens, cooling, collimator and to test range for the given wattage.

        If LED pointer is ready (UV or IR + visible light beam in parallel) I can order Lidar Lite for tests, described above.

        For  IR tests I use single lens night vision system at $200

        For UV tests I plan to use spectroscope and image data processing to extract UV bandwidth.

        For indoor tests I plan to build Led-based 3D scanner (for use with 3D printer)

        $200 night vision system is highly sensitive and can detect blinking IR Led from 100 m.

        Developing collimator, lens to concentrate UV/IR beam to receive reflected UV/IR

        beam from objects distant as close as 10, 20, 30, 40 m

        can give me an answer on the feasibility of such approach.

        @Laser Developer

        @LidarLiteGroup

        are the leaders , so I would like to know their opinion about my approach.

        darius

        manta103g@gmail.com

  • Thank you Jacob,

    excellent video.

    I would like to build alike indoor navigation system.

    • Don't thank me, it's not my material. But thanking for starting the discussion, yes I find it intriguing and hope to develop my own some day.
  • Hi Darius,

    Yes, I've been to their site.

    You see why I'm confused?! Their FAQs discuss a product that doesn't exist (a non-laser LED Lidar-Light).

    Any links they provide, however, lead to a product which clearly states it is laser-based.

    That was my original point. Talk of a non-laser Lidar-lite, but no follow-through.

    My reason for entering this thread was to warn people to read the fine print of their country's regulations before they build a business plan around UAV-with-onboard-lasers. In other words, it's not just a technical issue. It may be a legal one (it is in Canada).

    The company mentions 'eye-safe, laser hazard-free'. But their website is so confusing, it's not clear if they're still referring to a non-laser or a laser product.

    But even if they mean the laser one - it doesn't matter (in Canada) whether they think their product is eye-safe. It only matters that Transport Canada strictly regulates all onboard lasers - 'no exceptions'.

    People might be unpleasantly surprised if they're not careful.

    I still have not seen any link to a purchasable, non-laser Lidar-Lite equivalent. If the authorities don't change their opposition to onboard lasers, there may be a (large) market for the non-laser equivalent, even if it performs less well (as I assume it must).

    But if the authorities change their minds tomorrow, no one will want the non-laser version.

    (during Transport Canada's recent request for public feedback on proposals for the comprehensive new UAV regulations they will reveal next year, I made the point that blocking Lidar is going to lead to more collisions and injuries, not fewer. I even sent them a link to this company's 'eye-safe' product).

    I also have no idea how other countries' regulations treat on-board lasers.

    George

     

    • Dear George,

      You are exactly right that non-laser lite Lidar is marketed, described but not offered as a market product.

      Yesterday I have tested $200 night vision device coming with camera i recorder, offered in a market.

      Pulsed IR light generated by pressing a button in TV remote has been detected by  IR sensor matrix  could be watched on LCD screen.

      Today I plan to test power Led equipped with collimator and lens from DVD laser recorder

      Led diode is not going to "lase" but hope to build basic LED pointer for tests.

      Pls let me know your opinion.

      "

      In the simplest form of laser diode, an optical waveguide is made on that crystal's surface, such that the light is confined to a relatively narrow line. The two ends of the crystal are cleaved to form perfectly smooth, parallel edges, forming a Fabry–Pérot resonator. Photons emitted into a mode of the waveguide will travel along the waveguide and be reflected several times from each end face before they exit. As a light wave passes through the cavity, it is amplified by stimulated emission, but light is also lost due to absorption and by incomplete reflection from the end facets. Finally, if there is more amplification than loss, the diode begins to "lase"."

  • And don't underestimate the regulatory issue.

    It's very difficult currently to get approval for any onboard lasers - even the weakest ones - in Canada. Don't know about other places (but countries seem to be following each other's lead these days in drafting their regulations).

    To put LIDAR-light on a commercial drone requires a full permit application (minimum 20 working days, but has recently taken as long as several months), followed by a special review by Health Canada (minimum 30 days).

    And until you have a considerable track record, that applies to each single intended use!

    George

    • What the problem with Lidar George? I just buy one glup!

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