Velodyne LiDAR, a developer of real-time LiDAR sensors, has announced a partnership agreement with Dibotics, a developer of GPS-denied and infrastructure-less navigation technologies.
Under the agreement, Dibotics will provide consulting services to Velodyne LiDAR customers who require 3D SLAM software, while Velodyne will assist Dibotics in enhancing its technology when deployed with Velodyne’s 3D LiDAR sensors. In robotic mapping, SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) involves the computational problem of constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of a specific point within it.
The two companies have been collaborating informally for some time, across a range of application areas. More than a dozen of these collaborations have been captured in a series of YouTube videos, among them 3D mapping, (San Jose, Calif.); localization in agriculture(3D SLAM in agricultural fields, alongside trees, with Velodyne LiDAR’s VLP-16 mounted on an ATV); airborne mapping using LiDAR (via an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle); drone security zone (airborne security using a drone and LiDAR); driverless car, SLAM on fields (autonomous car using a single LiDAR sensor); and infrastructure surveillance with drone (inspection of bridge infrastructure).
“We’re eager to work closely with Velodyne LiDAR to deliver the best solutions to emerging markets like real-time drone mapping and mobile robotics applications,” said Raul Bravo, CEO, Dibotics. “We have applied our technology to a wide range of application fields in several industry segments all over the world, to achieve fully autonomous function, perception-enriched tele-operation or 3D modelization. This partnership represents the next step in our evolution, and in the maturation of the technology.”
“Dibotics is the pioneer and world leader of a new kind of real-time 3D SLAM, based on the output of sensors like ours, so teaming up promises to be a boon to both companies,” said Erich Smidt, Velodyne LiDAR Europe Regional Director. “Localization and mobile robotics represent major growth opportunities for us and for the industry as a whole, and we see Dibotics as complementing our LiDAR market leadership.”
