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LiDAR for $7999!

LiDAR-puck.png

Many folks are going to be horrified at that price, but I look at it as less than autopilots cost back in the day. I think these will fly off the shelf for professional end users. Moores law seems not to apply to unmanned aviation, its too slow.

“Velodyne’s LiDAR Puck has the potential to be truly transformational, an enabling technology for a vast array of price-sensitive applications,” Hall said. “The introductory pricing of $7,999 for this next-generation LiDAR sensor makes choosing the ‘Puck’ a total no brainer for any automation or robotics application requiring timely 3D vision.

There’s no longer any need to go through the hassle of combining several 2D sensors or mount one 2D sensor on a ‘nodding’ platform, now that one 3D sensor can do the job conveniently and at an even lower price point than multiple 2D sensors.”

Full press release

 

Wolfgang speaking about Velodyne at sUSB Expo 14

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  • That pretty much sums up lidar for uav's, under $100k and it's probably garbage...  That's across the pond translation : )  Hey, has LidarPod integrated a photogrammetry mount?  Saw them last year at the Denver convention, sexy looking unit with all that carbon.

  • We are the preferred supplier of data from the LidarPod by Routescene. If you speak to them to try and get data, they will pass you onto us :)

    The LidarPod is a great unit and can do dual return. With accuracies better than 60mm, it compares well to full sized aircraft units. 

    Just so you know, the Velodyne, isn't a liDAR unit, its just the scanner part. Any LiDAR unit which costs less than £50k is a pile of rubbish so don't go near them. LidarPod includes an accurate AHRS, RTK GNSS and all the software/ hardware needed to fly. Attitude needs to be accurate to less than 0.1 degrees for it to be any good. That is based on having Kalman filters on board to filter out the noise. Trust me...LiDAR isn't that easy to start putting together yourselves! Leave it to the experts :)

    If you need some data, feel free to get in touch. We are operational now, and can collect data next week if you need it :)

    James

    Remote Aerial Surveys

    www.remoteaerialsurveys.co.uk

  • Sure, both Phoenix and Reigl systems can be setup stationary.  But even more useful, you mount to a car, atv, backpack or whatever moves about your scanning area.  I believe the car mount is included with the Phoenix system.

  • Any news or updates on commercial LIDAR on sUAS? I was wondering if they have a 360 degree rotation could they be put to use on a tripod and perform terrestrial surveys?

  • All good progress, I like to see that companies are investing into this type of technology however a major problem to overcome is the fact that it's reletively easy to generate a point cloud picture however the true value to the product is repeatable accuracy along with good and stable x y z positioning of laser points. Www.sabresurvey.co.uk
  • 3701948283?profile=original

    Update on our progress with the Puck:

    http://www.xactsense.com/laser-scanning-drones-xactsense-is-first-t...

    Laser Scanning Drones: XactSense is First to Fly Velodyne’s New Low-Cost LIDAR “Puck”
    Read about the Latest invention "Laser scanning Drones" for the low-altitude mapping and light in weight. Click for the more functionality!
  • XactSense looks interesting.  I was trying to decide between the Routescene Lidarpod or the Phoenix AL3.  I was leaning towards the Lidarpod given it's weight compared to the AL2, but the AL3 is almost as light as the Lidarpod.  Routescene doesn't spec the IMU which I find a bit weird.  Anyone out there using either of these units?  Hard to get much info.  

    http://www.routescene.com/products/product/uav-lidarpod/

    http://www.phoenix-aerial.com/products/phoenix-lidar-systems/al3/

  • We have had great successes with the 32E and have developed mapping software to make use of the sensor on a UAV, even in GPS denied environments ! We are very much looking forward to recieveing our first vlp16 unit as we have already developed hardware to integrate it into our aircraft. You can see some of our progress on our site, though our newest developments have not been publicly announced yet !

    www.XactSense.com

    3701912136?profile=original

    XactSense - Now VERTSPEC
    Hi ! Unfortunately, the site you are looking for no longer exists. Xactsense has had a great run. Drone use for every imaginable type of work has exp…
  • And to think our company was contemplating purchasing the HDL32e...  1/3 the price.  I wish the supporting equipment cost came down in price as well.  The lidar head is just the beginning of an operational lidar system for a uav.

  • Sorry for stating the obvious, I didn't realise he mentions this fact two minutes into the talk.

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