Sentech has started a collaboration with lidar specialist Velodyne, an American company that delivers smart lidar solutions. You’ll find their technology in products for AGVs, driver assistance, delivery, robotics, navigation, and cartography, among other applications.
Known around the world for its portfolio of groundbreaking lidar sensors, Velodyne is the market leader. Their product line consists of a broad package of sensor solutions, including the cost-effective Puck, the versatile Ultra Puck, the autonomously correcting Alpha Prime, and Vella software for driver assistance. This range will be expanded in 2022 and 2023 with the solid-state 3D solutions Velarray and Velabit.
How does lidar work?
Lidar stands for ‘LIght Detection And Ranging.’ This technology uses laser beams to create a point cloud — otherwise known as a 3D representation — of an environment. Lidar performs well in a great variety of light and weather conditions.
A lidar sensor transmits pulses of invisible light that reflect off objects in the environment. How does the sensor measure distance? The sensor uses the time that it takes each pulse to return to the sensor to measure the distance from the sensor to the object. This is also known as the time-of-flight principle. This process is repeated millions of times per second, resulting in an accurate real-time 3D map of the environment.
Possibilities for lidar technology
Lidar is the only technology that can accurately map the environment as well as guard the privacy of the surroundings. With IP69, the technology is suitable for environments experiencing weather conditions, such as rain. The 3D solid-state version will be available starting in 2022/2023.
Why this partnership
According to Maria Solovieva, Director of Sales for EMEA at Velodyne Lidar, Velodyne had clear reasons for deciding to partner with Sentech. “Sentech has a very good reputation in the market and an extensive group of customers in our industry. Their expertise with sensor technology is impressive. Sentech helps customers integrate a sensor in their application. They even support customers in the modification of this sensor, as well, so that time is saved in the production process. In short: They are an ideal and reliable partner for us.”
Lidar integration in 5 steps
Autonomous vehicles, such as AGVs, detect the distance to objects using lidar. To build an autonomous vehicle, multiple types of sensors must be combined — all to achieve a reliable measurement.
Collaborations are essential to this process. What is involved with a lidar integration? Read all about it in our 5-step plan.
