The Boston Dynamics Spot robot equipped with Velodyne lidar. (Photo: Velodyne)
Velodyne Lidar Inc. has signed a multi-year agreement for its lidar sensors with Boston Dynamics, a mobile robotics company best known for its “Spot” dog-like robot.
Boston Dynamics selected Velodyne’s sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities for its highly mobile robots. The sensors enable mobile robots to operate autonomously and safely, without human intervention. They provide real-time 3D perception data for localization, mapping, object classification and object tracking.
Velodyne’s power-efficient sensors support autonomous mobile robots in a wide range of challenging indoor and outdoor environmental conditions, including varying temperature, lighting and precipitation, the company said.
Velodyne’s lidar sensors will enable the robots to autonomously navigate complex environments, safely avoiding obstacles and finding the fastest route to perform tasks in environments from manufacturing plants and construction sites to distribution centers and warehouses.
The Alpha Puck, Alpha Prime and Velarray M1600 lidar sensors. (Photo: Velodyne)
Velodyne Lidar will display its lidar sensors and software at the IAA Mobility trade show, which takes place Sep. 7-12 in Munich.
Showcased are:
Velarray H800, a solid-state lidar sensor architected for automotive grade performance. With combined long-range perception and a broad field of view, the sensor is designed for safe navigation and collision avoidance in ADAS and autonomous mobility applications.
Velarray M1600, a solid-state lidar sensor designed to serve mobile robotic applications, enables touchless mobile and last-mile delivery robots to operate autonomously and safely, without human intervention.
Velabit, Velodyne’s smallest sensor, designed for versatility and affordability to 3D lidar perception.
Velodyne Lidar’s Intelligent Infrastructure Solution addresses the pressing need for smart city systems that can help improve road safety and prevent traffic accidents. The solution creates a real-time 3D map of roads and intersections, providing precise traffic monitoring and analytics that is not possible with other types of sensors like cameras or radar.
Partners Using Velodyne
NI, developer of automated test and automated measurement systems, is co-exhibiting at the Velodyne booth. NI is showing simulations optimized for Velodyne’s lidar sensors that can be used in developing and testing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle (AV) capabilities.
NI will demonstrate how its monoDrive AV simulation software is using Velodyne’s lidar technology to create digital twins and is providing validated physics-based sensor models for Velodyne lidar sensors.
Seoul Robotics, an Automated with Velodyne partner, is demonstrating at the Velodyne booth its AI perception engine for Velodyne’s lidar sensors. The engine provides real-time object detection, classification, tracking and prediction for autonomous systems.
The AI engine can power self-driving cars as well as smart-city applications and advanced parameter monitoring systems for facilities. Seoul Robotics’ SENSR perception software includes an AI engine that is fully optimized to utilize Velodyne’s portfolio of lidar sensors, including the Puck, Ultra Puck and Alpha Prime.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has partnered with Velodyne Lidar, a provider of real-time 3D perception systems for a range of commercial applications, including autonomous vehicles. The initiative includes a website on the safety benefits of autonomous vehicle technology (see velodynelidar.com/madd-partnership.html) and an October conference on autonomous safety.
“We have learned that technology is essential to getting us to our goal of zero deaths caused by drunk driving,” said MADD President Helen Witty. “Autonomous vehicle technology holds the incredible promise of helping us eliminate drunk driving.”
The summit is designed to advance understanding of the safety benefits that can be achieved with autonomous vehicle technology. It is designed for business, government, public safety and community leaders. Attendees will have the opportunity to ride in autonomous vehicles.
Marta Hall, Velodyne Lidar’s president and chief business development officer, added, “Our goal is to design, develop and mass-produce lower cost lidar sold for every model of car and truck.”
The two organizations partnered in 2018 to create the website with information on how autonomous vehicles can help prevent roadway collisions. The site explains the basics of autonomous driving in easy-to-understand language for all audiences. Content modules include “Lidar 101,” explaining how lidar sensor technology is an essential component of self-driving vehicles.
A 3D lidar sensor such as the Velodyne Alpha Puck can deliver information to help enable vehicle autonomy and advanced driver-assistance systems. (Image: Velodyne)
“The promise of safe, self-driving cars is very exciting, particularly for those of us who have seen the devastation that impaired driving and human error can bring,” said former MADD President Colleen Sheehey-Church.
Puck Sensor. The Velodyne Alpha Puck is a lidar sensor specifically made for autonomous driving and advanced vehicle safety at highway speeds. In a session at July’s Automated Vehicle Symposium, company speakers presented “High-Definition 3D Lidars: An Integral Part of Future Autonomous Driving,” including use cases that have proven elusive for solutions based on camera and radar; and “State of Solid-State 3D Lidar,” a technical presentation on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
“Core lidar electronics are moving from a printed circuit board to an ASIC, which provides advantages such as higher density, lower cost and improved reliability,” said UAV and Robotics Business Manager Frank Bertini. “The trend roughly follows Moore’s Law, leading to dramatic decreases in size, weight and cost over relatively short time periods.”
