Ever wondered how much more our machines could achieve if they had the power of perception, as humans do? LightWare has – which is why we’ve set out to make it possible for machines to sense their world.
We do this with LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging; a technology which is increasingly gaining traction as a tool for measuring distance. This is achieved by using light pulses, which measure the distance between objects with extreme precision.
The applications are endless, from geospatial scanning and mapping to sensing, which is where we at LightWare excel. Our microLiDAR™ sensors are leading the world in helping machines gain a better sense of where they are in space, which has massive implications for avoiding obstacles and improving efficiencies. LiDARs may be airborne or terrestrial or, as in our case, they may play a role in IoT.
Fun fact! The first laser shot into prominence during the 1960s, where it was initially used on aeroplanes for terrain mapping. Nowadays, though, lasers have a place in almost every single piece of technology around.
How does LiDAR work?
It’s all about the Time of Flight (ToF) principle: LiDAR emits pulses of light into the environment. These bounce off objects and then return to the source. Timing this action lets you know how far the pulse has travelled. With multiple nano-second pulses sent and received during a single second, it becomes possible to read distance with outstanding accuracy.
Fun fact! The formula experts use to achieve the exact distance of the object is: the distance of the object= (Speed of light x time of flight)/ 2.
