3D lidar sensor from Panasonic

Because the firm sees this as a sensor for robots that work indoors and outdoors, it is capable of detecting objects up to 50m away, as well as the roughness of the ground. It will also operate in strong sunlight, said the firm – in up to 100,000 lux, corresponding to strong summer sunlight.

Scanning angle and resolution is adjustable – set by changing mirror rotation angle and speed – allowing users to set them depending on conditions.

Autonomous robots

“Autonomous robots do not need to sense the objects in details when they move on flat surface with less objects in the area, so the object detection sensor can be scanned at relatively high speed according to the robot’s speed,” said Panasonic.

“On the other hand, in an area with many moving people or objects, it requires high sensing technologies with a wide angle of view. Furthermore, the sensor needs to examine the details of the object’s surface that has been detected.”

It contrasts its robot scanner with those for autonomous automotive scanners, which cannot scan a wide vertical range and can therefore not detect ground conditions – requiring additional sensors if this information is needed.

The optical system is proprietary, based on that developed for mass-produced optical disk drives.

It has a single laser, with transmit and receive light sharing the same path, steered by a single mirror moved by two motors for rotagion about vertical and horizontal axes.

The scanner is protected to IP65, and has an M12 plug. Sample shipments will start in January 2018.