Mobile Robot and LiDAR

According to Wikipedia, a mobile robot is a robot that is capable of moving in the surrounding (locomotion). Mobile robotics is usually considered to be a subfield of robotics and information engineering. LiDAR technology can accelerate the arrival of the intelligent era of the logistics mobile robot industry and accelerate automation development in all industries. There are more and more LiDAR product displays for logistics mobile robots.

Last year, SICK displayed more than 20 products on AGV in three categories: navigation sensors, anti-collision sensors, and other detection sensors. Among them, LiDAR products include nanoScan3 safety laser scanner with functions such as anti-collision and precise navigation, as well as the cloud platform contour scanning system and security protection solutions that can realize contour scanning of large scenes.

At CeMAT ASIA 2021, some companies demonstrated some creative LiDAR solutions to enable logistics mobile robots to work smartly to effectively save the user’s cost of use and reduce time costs.

One of Velodyne LiDAR models provides excellent near-field perception for safe navigation and can support indoor logistics mobile robots and the “last mile” in various challenging environmental conditions. “Delivery robots and the like operate autonomously and safely without human intervention. 

Technology upgrades, Chinese LiDAR brands rise

LiDAR technology is constantly developing and upgrading.

First of all, the performance has been greatly improved, regardless of the measurement accuracy, measurement range, angular resolution, point cloud density, point cloud stability, anti-environmental interference ability, etc., are constantly improving, which is also a comprehensive evaluation of important indicators on the advantages& disadvantages and applicability of LiDAR products.

Second, costs have dropped significantly. With the continuous improvement of LiDAR performance, its price is also declining, especially the price of Chinese LiDAR products has a greater advantage. Whether it is a mechanical LiDAR or a hybrid solid-state LiDAR, it can provide customers with flexible choices from a single LiDAR product to an overall solution, and the overall solution cost is even lower.

In addition, the industry’s emphasis on security is increasing. “Safety is the top priority for many logistics companies. The growing demand for LiDAR is not only focused on the logistics mobile robot itself, but also on the operating environment of the robot. As the lighting conditions in warehouses are generally not ideal, in the case of insufficient light, LiDAR has more advantages than cameras do. It can ensure warehouse security, protect the privacy of warehouse personnel and goods, and provide positioning and detection capabilities. LiDAR is a technology product that serves security. When designing LiDAR solutions, LiDAR companies should always follow the principle “Safety comes first”.

Faced with the strong demand of the logistics mobile robot industry, global LiDAR companies are striving to expand the market. Chinese companies continue to achieve technological upgrades. For example, some LiDAR companies have the ability to develop and produce LiDAR chips by themselves. In addition to launching more cost-effective products, European and American LiDAR brands are also making further efforts in localized services. However, European and American LiDAR products are generally high-price, have long delivery times, and have untimely service responses. Chinese companies have grown more significantly, especially in the category of obstacle avoidance LiDAR, which has a higher market share. 

Some Chinese LiDAR companies also said that with the gradual maturity of LiDAR technology, their 3D SLAM unmanned forklift/AGV navigation system solutions have been widely used in the smart logistics market, and it is expected that the market will boost in the next few years. The rise of Chinese LiDAR manufacturers can accelerate the arrival of the intelligent era of the logistics mobile robot industry, and breakthroughs in chip research & development, core key component technology, and integrated technology can ensure product reliability, stability, and consistency. On the premise, costs are controlled, and the price of LiDAR is reduced, to allow customers to put LiDAR into use in batches, to quickly promote the intelligent transformation of the logistics mobile robot industry. LiDAR technology plays important role in the development of the entire logistics mobile robot industry. 

Neuvition Titan S2 flash LiDAR

Titan S2 is the first flash LiDAR product in the Neuvition LiDAR family! S2 is specially designed for indoor close-range application scenarios mainly including logistics vehicles, supermarket flow statistics, privacy protection monitoring, security detection, indoor 3D imaging, volume measurement in trucks, industrial machine vision, AMR/AGV/RGV obstacle avoidance, etc.

Compared with similar LiDAR products based on pure solid-state LiDAR technology and the same-range detection on the market, the advantages of Titan S2 are as follows:
High resolution, long detection distance, high precision, large field of view, with camera