Velodyne to sell 128-channel LIDAR sensor
- Author:Ella Cai
- Release on:2017-12-06
Velodyne has announced a 128-channel LiDAR sensor which, it says, has ten times the resolving power of the company’s previous model, the HDL-64.
As well as doubling the channel numbers, channel density has been tripled and the zoom resolution doubled, enabling it to detect objects more clearly and identify them more accurately.
The resulting range is 300 meters (984 ft) and the high-resolution data gathered enables it to directly detect objects without additional sensor fusion, reducing computational complexity.
The VLS-128 is around one third the weight of the HDL-64 and it features auto-alignment technology that will be progressively installed in Velodyne’s other LiDAR offerings.
Velodyne claims that as well as its capabilities in low-speed urban environments, the VLS-128 will help autonomous vehicles to function at highway speeds, where it’s “designed to solve for all corner cases needed for full autonomy.”
“We think the biggest unsolved problem for autonomous driving at highway speeds is avoiding road debris,” says Velodyne founder and CEO, David Hall, “that’s tough, because you have to see way out ahead. The self-driving car needs to change lanes, if possible, and do so safely. On top of that, most road debris is shredded truck tire – all black material on a dark surface. Especially at night, that type of object recognition is challenging, even for the LiDAR sensors we’ve previously built. The autonomous car needs to see further out, with denser point clouds and higher laser repetitions.”
Velodyne says it will begin shipping the VLS-128 by year’s end.
As well as doubling the channel numbers, channel density has been tripled and the zoom resolution doubled, enabling it to detect objects more clearly and identify them more accurately.
The resulting range is 300 meters (984 ft) and the high-resolution data gathered enables it to directly detect objects without additional sensor fusion, reducing computational complexity.
The VLS-128 is around one third the weight of the HDL-64 and it features auto-alignment technology that will be progressively installed in Velodyne’s other LiDAR offerings.
Velodyne claims that as well as its capabilities in low-speed urban environments, the VLS-128 will help autonomous vehicles to function at highway speeds, where it’s “designed to solve for all corner cases needed for full autonomy.”
“We think the biggest unsolved problem for autonomous driving at highway speeds is avoiding road debris,” says Velodyne founder and CEO, David Hall, “that’s tough, because you have to see way out ahead. The self-driving car needs to change lanes, if possible, and do so safely. On top of that, most road debris is shredded truck tire – all black material on a dark surface. Especially at night, that type of object recognition is challenging, even for the LiDAR sensors we’ve previously built. The autonomous car needs to see further out, with denser point clouds and higher laser repetitions.”
Velodyne says it will begin shipping the VLS-128 by year’s end.
