Lidar Lite and other sensors are usefull for agriculture purposes?

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Cala November 12, 2015 at 10:17am

Thank´s sunflower makes the field really nice :) Aprox one month each other the tree photos
- Darius Jack > Cala November 12, 2015 at 1:34pm
  
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  our top expert in laser range finders
  
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  Thank you
  
  @Laser Developer
  
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  Reply by Laser Developer on July 29, 2012 at 9:48am
  
  Hi Nick,
  
  There has been very little response to this product from the UAV community so the project has kinda fallen off the table.
  
  One or two comments from UAV enthusiasts point to the availability of altimeters based on air pressure that are more than adequate for most applications (and very cheap). I think that this has set the market perception with regard to price and anything that is more expensive is generally regarded as unnecessary.
  
  We have also made an Arduino compatible version that is easier to integrate into some control platforms and we are still open to discussion and suggestions from anyone who thinks that there is a potential market for a laser altimeter, but right now we are working on other applications.
  
  LD
LightWare - Laser Developer November 11, 2015 at 11:24pm

I understand Darius' point of view but perhaps he is talking about a different problem. If I understand your original question correctly it is to reduce the chance of crashing into the ground whilst flying at low level over a clearly defined field. This is not about obstacle avoidance, which would require a more complicated solution, but about maintaining a consistent height above the ground.

I have taken the liberty of running a quick test using a LiDAR over the field near our offices. The type of LiDAR that I'm using has filtering capability and in the plot below I have shown the raw data, taken directly from the measurements of the plants, as well as the filtered data:

The "rough terrain" caused by gaps between the plants is smoothed out to a large extent by the filter. Using the filtered data as an AGL measurement it might be possible to hold altitude to within 20cm or so.

The next issue, perhaps more complicated, is integrating the LiDAR data into the flight control system in a "safe" way so that it is only used for control purposes inside the boundaries of the field. Additionally, some reference to the barometric and GPS altitude might be helpful if you want to make a high reliability solution with redundant data sources. Unfortunately, this type of altitude control is not yet available in the Pixhawk or its derivatives (as far as I know) but there are number of groups working on it and hopefully a complete solution will be available soon.
- Cala > LightWare - Laser Developer November 12, 2015 at 3:51am
  
  Thank's for your test Laser, yes, I only need to reduce the chance of crash on the ground when I fly low, now I'm using fpv for that task but in the last firm it was incorporated the Lidar Lite support and I think as more people try it and feedback, we are going to have faster reliable solutions.
  
  I am "she" ;)
- Paul Meier > Cala November 12, 2015 at 8:34am
  
  Cala,
  
  please what's the crop in the pics ?
  
  Thanks
- Cala > Paul Meier November 12, 2015 at 8:46am
  
  sunflower
- Paul Meier > Cala November 12, 2015 at 8:57am
  
  beautiful...........
  
  what's the time span between the two pics ?
- Darius Jack > Paul Meier November 12, 2015 at 10:17am
  
  Easy guess
  
  No.1,2
  
  Posted by Cala on November 9, 2015 at 9:14am
  
  No.3
  
  Reply by Cala 1 hour ago
  
  Just 3 days only ;)
  
  @Cala (@Laser)
  
  Today your sunflowers are 1-2 mts high
  
  so flying at 2-3 mts is not safe and mini Lidar can generate 50%-70% error in relative altitude.
  
  BTW
  
  @Laser Developer
  
  are you the genuine developer of mini Lidar ,
  
  promoting your excellent product with @Cala ?
- Cala > Darius Jack November 12, 2015 at 11:47am
  
  It's easy to know your concern if you go to the user profiles, (I understand what you mean because I read lots of times in forums but not the case) http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/laser-altimeter-new-design
  
  Thank's, you allow me to find Laser interesting post
- Darius Jack > Cala November 12, 2015 at 5:54pm
  
  http://www.pulsedlight3d.com/products/lidar-lite-v2-blue-label.html
  
  https://www.dragoninnovation.com/projects/32-lidar-lite-by-pulsedlight
  
  http://www.robotshop.com/en/pulsedlight.html
  
  @Cala,
  
  since you have asked about LIDAR light originally
  
  I visited web page of Lidar Light, as above (C&P fails with Android).
  
  Chris Anderson, CEO at 3D Robotics endorsed Lidar Light
  
  with his comments.
  
  Not sure about the implementations and applications to control a drone.
  
  @Lader started his project from $450
  
  today price dropped to $120
  
  and what is really hot is 3D Laser scanner technology.
  
  --
  
  “PulsedLight takes distance range finding from the expensive, closed solution that it is today to small, cheap and open. This is tremendously appealing to us at 3D Robotics, as is the potential this has for getting us to truly autonomous UAVs without relying solely on GPS.” - Chris Anderson, CEO of 3D Robotics

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