iRobot Purchases LADAR Imaging Technology for Military Bots
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Thursday, 31 of January , 2008 at 7:42 am
This little camera may not look like much, and in fact, it’s not much, measuring less than 3″ square. But what it can do is huge. It’s a LADAR (or LIDAR) camera, which uses a laser to create 3D images. This tiny little guy has a 128×128 pixel sensor, and it’s able to detect objects up to 22,000 feet away with a depth resolution of up to one inch, depending on what laser is installed as an illuminator. LADAR (Laser Detection and Ranging) uses timed pulses of laser light to determine how far away and how reflective something is, and this particular camera is able to operate at up to 30 frames per second, which results in pretty decent 3D video:
Since the laser pulses are only 20 nanoseconds long, they’re invisible to the human eye, most cameras, and night vision systems. The ability to create on-the-fly 3D maps ought to give PackBots some autonomous navigation capabilities, or if nothing else, they’ll improve situation awareness, especially in complicated urban environments. You can watch a 60 minute long presentation on the technology here.
[ Advanced Scientific Concepts ] VIA [ Robot Stock News ]
Category: Military
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Digg
Comment by Matt
Made Monday, 4 of February , 2008 at 9:00 pm
So when will we be able to sell these for $79 on our site? I’ve already got customers asking for them!! LOL. Nice find Evan.
Comment by Karl-Dieter Wien
Made Sunday, 17 of February , 2008 at 2:11 pm
for development in military applications we are interested to know where the camera is commercially available (address, cost)
thanks
KD Wien