Velodyne and YellowScan Create Advanced UAV LiDAR Survey Platform

By Mike Ball / 31 Oct 2017
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Drone with Velodyne LiDAR sensor

Velodyne LiDAR, a provider of 3D vision systems for autonomous vehicles, has announced that it is partnering with aerial sensing solutions developer YellowScan to integrate its VLP-16 Puck and VLP-16 Puck LITE LiDAR sensors into YellowScan’s Surveyor for a turn-key LiDAR system for demanding UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) applications.

Real-time LiDAR systems for UAVs such as YellowScan’s ultra-compact 3D laser mapping solutions are leveraged around the world for industrial and scientific applications, including surveying, civil engineering, archeology, and environmental science. By combining its LiveStation app with the real-time 3D data capture capabilities of Velodyne’s VLP-16 Puck and VLP-16 Puck LITE sensors – both of which feature a 360° horizontal field-of-view (FoV), 100-meter range, and weighing in at 830 grams and 590 grams, respectively – YellowScan delivers a turn-key Surveyor system that can be mounted to any drone for short-time data processing needs. The result is a real-time in-flight LiDAR monitoring platform, with users able to see how the final map is being generated in real-time during the drone mission, and the basic map datasets available immediately after the mission.

“YellowScan is known for its commitment to providing reliable and easy to use sensing solutions for the UAV industry, which make the VLP-16 Puck sensors an easy choice for the Surveyor system,” said Erich Smidt, Executive Director Europe, Velodyne LiDAR. “The VLP-16 Pucks are some of our newest offerings, with significant effort put into reducing weight while maintaining the resolution and reliability expected of Velodyne’s industry-leading LiDAR sensors.”

“YellowScan Surveyor, the turn-key LiDAR solution integrating Velodyne’s advanced VLP-16 sensor, enables mapping professionals to do more in less time thanks to tremendously high density and accurate measurements acquired from UAVs,” said Tristan Allouis, CTO, YellowScan.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact