"TenzinR, user Chenglung showed data from his unit going out to 6 meters (~18 feet). You can see the graph here:
http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/showpost.php?p=44338&postcoun...

Lew, in the original publication describing the unit Neato said they…"

"Ron Jacobs, the report distance from "chengleung" on the Trossen Robotics forums is 6 meters (~18 feet). In other news, the sensor has been fully hacked: http://robotbox.net/blog/gallamine/neato-robotics-xv-11s-lidar-hacked"

"Now, if they'd just get the Neato XV-11's lidar hacked, they can ditch that super expensive Hyroku lidar on top ($1,200, ouch!)
http://robotbox.net/blog/gallamine/open-lidar-project-hack-neato-xv..."

"Just got an email from RobotShop. They are upping the bounty (again!) and offering to refund the cost of the robot, if you buy it from them!
http://www.robotshop.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pc=RB-Nto-01
No excuses now."

"@Ritchie, that's a neat setup. Not sure how well itll work with longer distances, though. Have you tried an eye safe IR laser yet?"

"@Daniel, I'm not sure what your referencing, but very few sensors are able to capture a 3d field. Most scanning lidars, except for the newest systems from Velodyne, only capture 2d data - distance info on a plane."

"Patrice,
It'll remain to be seen, but all reports have indicated the sensor scans 360 degrees at 10 Hz. That's pretty fast, especially if we can hack it to only scan a portion of that range. There's also a possibility we can increase the scan rate…"

"True, but keep in mind that it's only $400 for a sensor who's next closest rival is $1200. I'm also hoping that interest in this contest might help spur a community and we can roll our own lidar for cheaper. I already have rough plans."

"Davey,
Thanks for the input. Yeah, I think they were PicoZ's. I've been looking at all the small RC heli's I could find, but they all seem to rotate in the same direction. I'm not sure how much they twin blade heli is, but that's an option. The…"

"jyro, Good idea. You might be able to notice in some of the pictures that they are slightly titled after someone suggested that to me. Unfortunately, the tilt needs to be variable with thrust, and having an articulating joint will be too…"

"Sad news indeed. Howard and I corresponded several times about his robots. You will be missed."

"Yeah Jack, sorry to disappoint :) $1k in prizes not cash. Maybe for the 20th :-D"

"Pixhawk,
Awesome project! I'm sorry I was clear in the original post, but to enter you need to post the comment on this page: http://www.gorobotics.net/the-news/robot-giveaway-10-years-of-gorob...
I've updated this blog post to make that clearer.…"