Lidar vendor Velodyne has joined Qualcomm’s Smart Cities Accelerator Program to promote the use of lidar technology in advanced city planning.
The program works with government and other developers to create smart city applications to improve public services, enhance safety and advance quality of life for citizens.
Lidar sensors can be used to measure and monitor conditions such as pedestrian safety, vehicle traffic, parking space management, speed measurement, V2X communications, queue and asset management, security and more. The technology can be used to collect detailed 3D information about people, vehicles, bicyclists, public spaces and more.
Lidar sensors provide 3D data for object detection and tracking in a wide variety of lighting and weather conditions. The technology does not recognize characteristics such as faces or skin color, which allows cities to gather information without compromising privacy. Lidar has been growing in terms of its use after being popularized using the technology in vehicles. However, the use cases for lidar are growing beyond automotive into indoor mapping, augmented reality, industrial logistics, critical infrastructure management and speed enforcement.
Velodyne and Qualcomm plan to deploy lidar sensors on Qualcomm Smart Campus indoors to track people as they move around in a public space. The data will help Qualcomm to detect traffic and usage patterns to better understand use rates and adjust facilities.
“The combination of Velodyne’s lidar and Qualcomm Technologies edge computing and 5G capabilities creates a powerful asset for developers to make their smart city ideas a potent solution,” said Jon Barad, vice president of business development at Velodyne Lidar. “Participating in the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program will help us connect with governments and solution providers to build lidar-based smart city applications that transform city infrastructure and services.”
