What are the applications of LiDAR (I)

Radar is no stranger to many people, but LiDAR may not be heard much. In recent years, with the exposure of unmanned driving technologies such as Google and Tesla, LiDAR has also received widespread attention.

LiDAR, namely light detection and measurement, is a system that integrates three technologies: laser, global positioning system (GPS), and inertial navigation system (INS). It is used to obtain data and generate accurate DEM (digital elevation model). . In terms of working principle, there is no fundamental difference from microwave radar, but compared with microwave radar, it has the characteristics of high resolution, good concealment, strong anti-active interference ability, good low-altitude detection performance, small size, and light weight.

With the continuous development and popularization of laser technology, there are more and more applications of laser radar, and it can be seen in fields such as driverless cars, 3D printing, and so on.

self-driving car

The application of LiDAR in driverless cars is not news, and LiDAR is also known as the eyes of driverless cars. Unmanned driving is a very popular technology in recent years. At present, unmanned cars are smart cars that sense the road environment through the on board sensor system, automatically plan driving routes, and control the vehicle to reach a predetermined goal.

How does LiDAR help cars identify intersections and directions? The technology used by LiDAR is flight time, which calculates the relative distance between the target and itself based on the turn-back time of the laser after encountering an obstacle. The laser beam can accurately measure the relative distance between the contour edge of the object in the field of view and the device. This contour information forms a so-called point cloud and draws a 3D environment map with an accuracy of centimeters, thereby improving the measurement accuracy.

3D printing

In recent years, 3D printing has attracted much attention. It is a technology that uses powdered metal or plastic and other bondable materials to construct objects by printing layer by layer based on digital model files. As a cutting-edge and leading intelligent manufacturing technology, 3D printing will lead the transformation of traditional production methods and production processes, and is expected to become the driving force for a new round of industrial revolution.

In 3D printing, it is also useful for LiDAR. This technology is mainly based on mature wide-format industrial inkjet printing equipment, which is ejected by UV-cured transparent polymer droplets and then integrated into the print head with strong UV rays. When the lamp is cured, various geometric shapes can eventually be formed. LiDAR plays a role in measurement, monitoring, and so on.