YellowScan will host its fourth conference for drone users June 13-14, 2022, at Domaine de Verchant, Montpellier, in the south of France. Attendees at Lidar for Drone 2022 will be able to meet and link up with YellowScan customers, partners and distributors.
Attendees will gain insight into the lidar industry and hear from interesting and innovative lidar users, thanks to an extensive program of technical sessions, workshops, live demonstrations and training.
There will also be networking opportunities — the user conference is a great chance for attendees to showcase their involvement in the lidar market.
This year’s conference will include a celebration of YellowScan’s 10th anniversary.
New flagship offering can be mounted on a light manned aircraft or switched to different types of UAV platforms
Photo: YellowScan
YellowScan, a designer of UAV lidar solutions, has launched the YellowScan Explorer. The Explorer can be mounted on a light manned aircraft or switched to different types of UAV platforms. The compact, versatile, long-range platform allows users to tackle a wide range of projects and mission profiles.
The Explorer’s high-power laser scanner can catch points up to 600 meters away, yet its low weight (2.3 Kg without battery) provides users with an integratable system. Combining Explorer with YellowScan’s full suite of software solutions to extract and process point cloud data provides users with a highly accurate set of tools for surveying, forestry, environmental research, archaeology, industrial inspection, civil engineering and mining.
The Explorer comes with an Applanix APX-20 UAV GNSS/inertial solution, precision of 2.6 cm and accuracy of 2.2 cm. Flight operation speed is 5 m/s to 35 m/s and it is capable of above-ground-level (AGL) altitude up to 300 m. Designed to be mounted on fixed-wing UAV, multi-rotor UAV or manned aircraft (light plane and helicopter), Explorer can enable a large variety of mission profiles.
YellowScan launched the Explorer during Commercial UAV Expo 2021 in Las Vegas, Sept. 7-9.
“We have been working on Explorer for the last three years, building on everything we have learned and achieved to date from a hardware, software and component integration perspective,” said Nassim Doukkali, R&D project manager, YellowScan. “One of the elements we are most proud of is the laser scanner, which has been designed according our specific specifications. With a maximum range of 600 m, the Explorer has exceeded YellowScan’s initial expectations.”
In 2017, YellowScan took part in a research project called FRELON (“French long range lidar”), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The goal was to develop a new standard for long-range lidar by bringing together innovative specialists like YellowScan to collaborate directly with Airbus Defense and Space, Delair, M3 Systems and utility end-users EDF, RTE, Enedis and SNCF to develop the next-generation solution to meet their requirements.
“We are proud to finally release Explorer,” said Tristan Allouis, CTO, YellowScan. “This is our answer to the market’s need for a single long-range, yet compact, lidar unit that can be mounted on light manned aircraft and various UAV platforms.”
A roundup of recent products in the GNSS and inertial positioning industry from the April 2021 issue of GPS World magazine.
OEM
STL receiver
For Satellite Timing and Location service
Photo: JLT
The STL-2600 Satellite Timing and Location (STL) commercial receiver was designed in partnership with Satelles Inc., the STL service provider. The STL-2600 provides a GNSS-independent, low-cost capability to generate UTC nanosecond timing and meters-accurate positioning anywhere in the world. The STL signal has 30-db (1,000 times) higher power compared to GPS signals, allowing the receiver to operate deep indoors independent of any GPS/GNSS signal. It is also useful in marine applications where GNSS signals are regularly denied or manipulated and for stationary high-accuracy timing applications such as 5G. It can be directly connected to JLT’s GPS Transcoder products for glueless retrofit capability of existing customer legacy GPS-only receiver systems to Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS as well as adding the STL and optional atomic holdover capability to these legacy systems.
The TS112 family of smart antennas is designed for demanding applications such as agricultural machine autosteering systems that require high positioning accuracy. They offer scalable positioning solutions with increased GNSS availability, reliability and accuracy. Each of the three models embeds Harxon X-Survey four-in-one technology. The high-gain and wide beamwidth multi-constellation GNSS antennas integrate 4G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in a compact unit. They feature multi-point feeding technology, ensuring high phase-center stability and real-time kinematic (RTK) centimeter-level positioning accuracy. They integrate a high-precision GNSS module with multi-band GNSS receiver and Harxon’s four-in-one multifunctional GNSS antenna in a compact housing.
The TACNAV 3D tactical navigation system is now available with the P-1775 inertial measurement unit (IMU) featuring KVH’s new photonic integrated chip (PIC) technology. PIC technology features an integrated planar optical chip that replaces individual fiber-optic components to simplify production while maintaining or improving accuracy and performance. KVH’s IMUs with PIC technology are designed to deliver improved bias stability and greater accuracy. The fiber-optic gyro (FOG)-based TACNAV 3D tactical navigation system provides an assured positioning, navigation and timing (A-PNT) solution with an embedded GNSS and optional chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC).
IoTeX has selected Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9160 low-power System-in-Package (SiP) with integrated LTE-M/NB-IoT modem and GPS receiver to provide the cellular internet of things (IoT) connectivity for its Pebble Tracker. The Pebble Tracker provides trusted location, environment and motion-tracking data for global asset tracking and industrial supply chain applications. Critical features strengthen security from hacking and data corruption, meeting the demand of applications that require strong data security and integrity protection throughout the supply chain. There are two versions of Pebble Tracker. The first targets blockchain and IoT developers, while a second commercial version is designed for the asset tracking and industrial supply chain markets. The product combines an environmental sensor, a motion sensor (gyroscope and accelerometer), and an ambient light sensor. It enables cellular network connectivity and integrated GPS support in a global version supporting precise, long-range tracking of asset data using established cellular infrastructure.
Enables transmission of corrections via the internet
Emlid Caster is an easy way to transmit corrections between real-time kinematic (RTK)-capable devices via the internet. Emlid Caster has a simple interface. Users can create their personal mount point and connect one base and up to five rovers. It works not only with Emlid products but any other device supporting NTRIP. For example, users can pass RTK corrections to the DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone from the Reach RS2 receiver as a base station. Emlid Caster is free and available worldwide. Once signed up, personal NTRIP credentials are generated automatically for a base and a rover.
The Trimble Siteworks SE Starter Edition. (Screenshot: Trimble)
The Trimble Siteworks SE Starter Edition is an entry-level construction surveying software program. With the program and a construction GNSS receiver, a supervisor, foreman, grade checker or site engineer can easily check a grade, slope or alignment and navigate the project more accurately and in less time than with traditional survey methods. It also can give more personnel on the jobsite access to survey technology, enabling more productive and efficient field crews. Trimble Siteworks SE Software is a simplified version of Trimble Siteworks Software, intended for users who do not require a full feature set and are interested in a lower-cost version to connect to GNSS only. Contractors can easily upgrade to the full version.
The Leica CityMapper-2L configuration is designed for airborne urban mapping projects at low altitude operation. Lower flying heights can be required by air traffic control (ATC) restrictions and in areas with low cloud cover. It features a 71-mm focal length at nadir, suitable for 5-cm ground sample distance (GSD) data acquisition at flying heights of 940-m above ground level. The new lenses offer similar coverage and productivity for a specific GSD as existing configurations for standard and high-flying heights, while significantly expanding the operation envelope. The CityMapper-2 hybrid airborne sensor combines oblique imaging and a lidar in one system. The sensor efficiently creates digital twins of cities. The system includes two 150 MP nadir cameras (RGB and NIR), four 150 MP oblique cameras and a 2-MHz linear-mode lidar sensor.
Full-waveform flash data for autonomous vehicle development
Photo: LeddarTech
Leddar PixSet is a publicly available sensor dataset for advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving research and development. The dataset includes full-waveform data from LeddarTech’s Leddar Pixell, a 3D solid-state flash lidar sensor. LeddarTech is offering these datasets free of charge for academic and research purposes. It allows academic and engineering research teams specializing in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technology to use existing sets of sensor data to test and develop advanced software and to run simulations without having to assemble new sensor suites and collect their own dataset. An instrumented vehicle was utilized in the development of the dataset. The various scenes were recorded in high-density urban and suburban environments as well as on the highway.
The mdLiDAR1000HR aaS drone lidar survey package is designed for professionals responsible for geospatial data collection, such as corridor mapping, mining (volume calculation), construction site monitoring, recording environmental changes over time, forestry, contour mapping, archaeology and cultural heritage, and more. The drone lidar system has a 90° field of view for both scanned points and imagery. It repeatedly provides a precision of 1.6 cm (.052 feet) when flown at 40 m (130 ft) at a speed of 8 m/s (18 mph). It integrates the Velodyne Puck Lite lidar sensor.
The fixed-wing eBee Ag drone can provide a complete assessment of a farm and crops faster than traditional field scouting. With its dual-purpose Duet M camera, eBee Ag captures accurate RGB and multispectral data that enable farmers to effectively assess crop health and help catch early indicators of pests, diseases and weed infestations that threaten crop yields. It features real-time kinematic (RTK) functionality for greater mapping precision. With its available RTK, the drone can achieve absolute accuracy down to 2.5 cm (1.0 inches) with RGB. Highly accurate index maps allow farmers to understand each acre while managing problematic areas field-wide.
The Vx15-300 and Vx20-300 UAV lidar solutions are new additions to Yellowscan’s Vx product series. A new terrain software module allows users to automatically classify grounds from off-ground, as well as export various digital elevation models. Both integrate the Riegl Mini-VUX 3 airborne laser scanner (1.55 kg / 3.4 lbs), designed specifically for integration with UAVs. The scanner offers a selectable 100-kHz, 200-kHz and 300-kHz laser-pulse repetition rate (PRR). At 300-kHz PRR, the sensor provides up to 100,000 measurements per second at 120° field of view, and thus a dense point pattern on the ground for UAV-based applications that require the acquisition of small objects.
Cryo-Vacc containers use helium — a fraction of the weight of nitrogen — to provide safe transportation of vaccines at the required extremely low temperatures and for periods of up to 30 days, without the need for any power supply. Now in prototype, the containers work with both air and ground transportation. A temperature range of -150°C to 8°C, makes it versatile for a range of vaccines — including those for COVID-19 — that need to be transported for up to 25 days or longer in transit, where access to an external power source is not possible. Combined with cold-chain monitoring and asset tracking technology from Beyond Wireless (a World Health Organization-certified provider), Cryo-Vacc can provide accurate temperature readings of vaccines in transit, as well as GPS-based tracking to ensure the custody chain can be audited.
The tamper-proof MSR175plus GPS data logger records potentially damaging shock events as well as the associated ambient conditions with the exact geographic position via its GPS/GNSS receiver. It contains two 3-axis-acceleration sensors (±15 g/±200 g), a temperature sensor (-20 to +65° C), a humidity sensor (0 to 100% relative humidity), air pressure sensing (0 to 2000 mbar), and an ambient light sensor (0 to 65,000 lux). It helps ensure compliance with transport specifications and provides irrefutable data for identifying damage liability for help with insurance claims. An external connector is ready for a cable-connected antenna. The removable, rechargeable 2400 mAh LiPo-battery enables recording for up to 8 weeks (at least one year without GPS-based tracking).
YellowScan has launched a new lidar system, the Surveyor Ultra. It integrates the Velodyne VLP-32C scanner and the Applanix APX-15 GNSS/inertial measurement unit (IMU).
With high density (600,000 shots per second), the system is suitable for high-speed UAVs and long-range needs (maximum range: 100 meters). Its light weight (1.7 kg) makes it easy to mount on any drone, including vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAVs.
As for all YellowScan lidar systems, the Surveyor Ultra is a turn-key system fitted for under vegetation 3D modeling and fast data processing, the company said.
Applications such as forestry, archeology and environmental research will benefit from Surveyor Ultra, as they require long-endurance flights high above trees or over rocky mountains and rugged terrain.
“The Surveyor Ultra shows great potential to safely and efficiently operate lidar on lightweight fixed-wing UAVs,” said Tristan Allouis, YellowScan CTO. “The Surveyor Ultra completes our product line, including the successful Surveyor Lidar System (integration of the VLP-16 scanner from Velodyne).”
Velodyne Lidar Inc., maker of 3D vision systems for autonomous vehicles, is partnering with YellowScan to integrate its VLP-16 Puck and VLP-16 Puck LITE lidar sensors into YellowScan’s Surveyor.
The result is a turn-key and reliable lidar system for demanding UAV applications, the companies said.
Real-time lidar systems for UAVs are used 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-degree horizontal field-of-view, 100-meter range, and weigh 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 of YellowScan.
SBG Systems joins YellowScan to present a lightweight lidar with inertial and GPS for UAVs. The new product will be presented at the INTERGEO trade show in Stuttgart, held Sept. 15-17.
The YellowScan lidar is designed for fixed or rotary-wing UAVs, with an embedded Ellipse-E, a miniature inertial navigation system from SBG Systems, which helps obtaining a clear and accurate point cloud.
The UAV market is continuously growing, especially for professional applications like 3D surveying. Developed for such applications, YellowScan’s R&D team has worked closely with researchers and professionals in industries such as construction, surveying, mining and natural resources to create a comprehensive, high-performance and easy-to-use LiDAR.
Ellipse-E. The ready-to-use YellowScan is operational at up to 75 meters and delivers a highly dense point cloud accurate to 10/15 centimeter. The solution includes a lidar with a ±50 degree angle that measures 40,000 points per second, an Ellipse-E inertial navigation system coupled with a centimeter-level RTK GPS, an on-board computer, and an integrated battery.
The Ellipse-E miniature inertial navigation system by SBG Systems.
Once mounted on the drone, the user pushes the yellow button and YellowScan is ready to survey. LED lights give useful information on YellowScan state, for instance if the GPS is receiving RTK corrections or not. The user can launch the UAV and begin the survey. Once the task accomplished, a USB stick is used for downloading the data. An office software visualizes the point cloud in a few clicks, before opening it in an industry specific software like Terrasolid, AutoCAD or ESRI.
The YellowScan research and development team was searching for a high-performance, light and ITAR-free inertial navigation system for motion compensation and data georeferencing. They tested the Ellipse-E, the new miniature inertial navigation systems from SBG. Weighting 12 grams as an OEM version, it provides roll-and-pitch data accurate to 0.2 degree. The heading is accurate to 0.5° with only one antenna. Indeed, the heading computation relies on GPS and accelerometers data. This method is used when GPS positioning is widely available and punctuated by frequent accelerations, such as turns. The R&D team found the test results satisfying, and a point cloud highly clean. “We are very satisfied with this little Ellipse-E. It perfectly matches our technical needs, and we even gained 5 percent on the total weight of the YellowScan,” said Tristan Allouis, CTO at YellowScan.
Ellipse-E Coupled with External GPS Receiver. The Ellipse-E inertial navigation system is able to connect to any survey-grade GPS receiver and to fuse in real-time GPS position with inertial information. Ellipse-E maintains a reliable position even if GPS masks occur. In this application, the Ellipse-E is coupled with the AsterX-m OEM card from Septentrio, a receiver that uses GPS and GLONASS constellations and works with all types of RTK reference stations.
At INTERGEO, YellowScan will be in booth # F8.014, and SBG Systems will present the Ellipse-E at booth # G4.079.
