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California start-up Quanergy Systems has
cut the size of its latest solid-state Lidar
sensor by 15% for UAV and driverless car
applications (writes Nick Flaherty).
The S3-Qi measures 25 x 32 mm and
weighs just 100 g. Mass production is
targeted for Q1 2017, and it is expected
to cost less than the $250 of its larger
sibling, the S3, in volume quantities. The
S3 will be entering production later this
year.
Instead of using mirrors to create
a scanning beam, the solid-state
technology uses an optical phased array
as a transmitter to steer pulses of laser
by shifting the phase of the pulse. For the
S3, each pulse is 1 µs, giving roughly a
million points of data per second, and
each pulse can be steered independently
within a field of view of 120
º
both
horizontally and vertically. The minimum
range is 10 cm, the maximum 100 m, and
it returns a distance to an object with an
accuracy of ±5 cm at 100 m.
The small size and weight opens up
opportunities for control and sense-
and-avoid applications in UAVs where
previously Lidar has had to be part of the
payload.
Smaller, cheaper Lidar unit
Sensing
Quanergy has shrunk the size of its solid-state Lidar sensor from the S3 (right) to the S3-Qi