While the main use case for light detection and ranging (lidar) will no doubt be in the automotive segment for both current vehicles and future automated driving features, use cases outside of the automotive market continue to grow.
Velodyne Lidar Inc. has signed a multi-year agreement to integrate its Puck lidar sensors into Renu Robotic’s all-electric robotic lawnmower.
Called Renubot, the lawnmower helps solar and energy facilities cut costs, time and carbon emissions while keeping grounds trimmed. The robot mower uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to autonomously command and control and to learn and assess the topography of facility grounds.
The Puck sensor provides navigation for the robot mower to avoid obstacles while cutting grass along with real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS correction for vehicle positional accuracy within 2 cm.
The sensors provide 3D computer perception data for real-time localization, mapping, object detection, classification and tracking. It can detect objects at a 100 meter range and it provides surround view for autonomous applications.
Lidar use cases
Given the volume of vehicles that will include lidar today and in the future, companies manufacturing lidar are understandably focused heavily in the automotive segment.
However, the technology is quickly finding its way into a multitude of other segments as companies see the potential of the 3D mapping and obstacle detection.
This includes several uses in smart cities, waste plant operations, monitor forest vegetation, 3D map forests, scanning interiors for 3D mapping of buildings and much more.
