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Emerging Technologies… LIDAR

Emerging Technologies… LIDAR. MAPPS Summer Conference 11 July 2012. Emerging LIDAR Technologies. On the market Multiple-output LIDAR Shallow-water bathymetric LIDAR On the market, but needing development Waveform-capture LIDAR On the market, but not yet in our segment Flash LIDAR

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Emerging Technologies… LIDAR

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  1. Emerging Technologies…LIDAR MAPPS Summer Conference 11 July 2012

  2. Emerging LIDAR Technologies On the market • Multiple-output LIDAR • Shallow-water bathymetric LIDAR On the market, but needing development • Waveform-capture LIDAR On the market, but not yet in our segment • Flash LIDAR • Photon-counting LIDAR • Automotive LIDAR What else do we need? • Higher-speed processing • Flexible workflows

  3. On the market now (1/2) • Multiple-output LIDAR • What it is • Two systems in a plane • Two scanners in a box • Two receivers in a scanner • What it does for us • High effective pulse rate  high point density, even in fast aircraft or with wide FOV • High effective scan rate  tight along-track spacing, even in fast aircraft or with wide FOV

  4. On the market now (2/2) • Shallow water bathymetry • What it is • Standard topographic LIDAR system • Switch laser from 1063 nm (infrared) to 532 nm (green) to allow penetration through water • Add full-waveform digitizer (bottom returns can be pulses in clear water or “fall-off point” in less clear water) • What is does for us • High pulse rate compared to deep-water bathymetric LIDAR (up to 100 kHz versus 1 kHz) • Low-cost-high-detail mapping in very shallow (<10m deep water)

  5. On the market, but needing further development • Waveform-capture LIDAR • What it is • Digitize intensity in small time slices • Process data to derive equivalent discrete pulses (on the fly, post-processed) • What it does for us • Gets beyond the limitations imposed by laser pulse width  small minimum vertical separation between targets • a posteriori detection threshold  see less reflective targets • Detection of pulse stretching • Indicator of sloped surfaces  aids classification • Indicator of “porous” surfaces (e.g., tall grases)  potential to improve accuracy • Why further development needed? • Some accuracy limitation in on-the-fly firmware • Slow processing speeds

  6. On the market, but not yet in our segment (1/3) • Flash LIDAR (e.g., Ball AeroSpace, ASC) • What it is • Broad-area illumination with a single laser pulse • LIDAR “focal plane” measures range to all points in the “scene” • What it does for us • Light weight, small size, low power  low-altitude UAVs?, man-portable LIDAR mapping? BIM? • Limitations • Short range (~100 m) • “Pixel” count (128 x 128 is state of the art)

  7. On the market, but not yet in our segment (2/3) • Photon-counting LIDAR (e.g., Lincoln Labs, Sigma Space, Voxtel, etc) • What it is • Highly-sensitive detector, running in “near constant avalanche mode” • Interesting note: Voxtel manufactures arrays up to 256 x 256 • What it does for us • Low laser power (safety, DC power consumption) • Limitations • Essentially for night time use only (can’t tell difference between solar photons and laser photons)

  8. On the market, but not yet in our segment (3/3) • Automotive LIDAR (e.g., IBEO) • What it is • Developed for automotive industry • Scans limited horizontal “slices” at short range • What it does for us (potentially) • CHEAP!!! ($250?) • Light weight, small size, low power  low-altitude UAVs?, man-portable LIDAR mapping? BIM? • Limitations • Short range (~30 m for 10% reflector) • Poor distance resolution (4 cm) • Poor angle resolution (0.25 degree) • Poor accuracy (10 cm) • Programmed for obstacle avoidance, not for mapping

  9. What else do we need? • High-speed point cloud generation • LIDAR raw data capture capabilities have grown explosively • Pulse rates double roughly every 2 years • Software speed has not grown so fast • Result: processing hours per flight hour increased over time • Processing hardware speed potential has grown • 8-core laptops for field processing • Multi-core blade computing in-house • Point cloud generation touches many aspects of system use • Enabling technology for real-time (in-the-air) point cloud generation • Flexible processing solutions • Enable customized or “vertical market” workflows • User control without jumping between GUIs

  10. Summary LIDAR sensor hardware has achieved a high level of productivity Some new technologies enhance productivity and profitability in current “use cases” Some new technologies become “enablers” for: • New platforms (e.g., smaller aircraft, UAVs) • New markets (high-detail bathymetry, BIM) Additional focus on processing software will allow better exploitation of both today’s and tomorrow’s sensors

  11. Thank you! ron.roth@leicaus.com

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