Voyant Photonics Offers Carbon LiDAR with FMCW Sensor on a Chip
Described as an effective and affordable LiDAR solution on a chip with solid-state beam steering, Voyant Photonics’ Carbon sensor is compact—approximately the size of a fingernail—and designed to provide high-resolution object detection and segmentation abilities at up to 200 meters. This is achieved through the integration of optics into a photonic integrated circuit (PIC).
Key features include:
- High-resolution object detection and dynamic segmentation capability.
- Real-time environmental updates at a rate of up to 20 times per second.
- Effective operation in various weather conditions, including dust, fog, rain and snow.
- Reflective object handling.
- Software-defined LiDAR (SDL) for real time adjustments to frame rate and field of view for focused area detection.
At a weight of 250 grams, the sensor is made for durability, featuring IP67 dust and water protection, as well as resistance to shock and vibration. The low power consumption of the FMCW laser technology provides safety for users.
READ MORE: Automate’s Product Spotlights: From Automation Essentials to Advanced Solutions
The sensor’s frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technology enables velocity at each point on top of traditional distance, reflectivity and intensity measurement, which provides “4D” capability, delivering high-fidelity point cloud data with accuracy, to give applications a true real-time view of their environment—up to 20 times per second. Instant velocity also enables vehicle ego-positioning capabilities, which is efficient in GPS-denied environments and potentially making a high-end inertial measurement unit (IMU) substitutable.
When asked what design challenges the sensor aims to address and how it facilitates problem-solving for Machine Design’s audience, Clement Kong, vice president of Voyant Photonics, had this to say: “Our product has dramatically brought down the cost of FMCW LIDAR, making features like point-by-point doppler velocity, real-time 3D localization, interference immunity and high dynamic range LIDAR imaging accessible to many more industries and applications at this new affordable price.” He added that the sensor offers a compact form factor with increased robustness and performance in adverse weather conditions, allowing users more flexibility to use it anywhere and anytime.
READ MORE: Building Wireless Sensors for Monitoring Equipment in Extreme Environments
Users can interface with the sensor in multiple ways. “It provides raw 3D point cloud imagery data by default,” Kong told Machine Design. “There is also an API with perception functions such as objection detection, 3D localization, pose estimation, etc., that provides more direct, intuitive information about their surroundings.”
As far as the R&D process, this product is rooted in years of R&D in silicon photonic chip design, Kong explained. “Silicon photonics has been used for datacom and telecom applications for many years now, and what Voyant has done is adapt this technology for use in LIDAR sensing,” he said.
To achieve this, Kong says that Voyant focused on three key innovations: 1) developing a new library of high-performance components specific to LIDAR requirements; 2) leveraging existing volume commercial foundry processes while designing for fabrication tolerances and high yield; and 3) using this to develop a scalable architecture for integrating thousands of components together for an on chip beam steering system. “Developing our component library took several design iterations to optimize—particularly component yield, in addition to performance,” he said.
READ MORE: Picking Precision: Advantages of Robotics in Agriculture
With regard to sustainability, Kong says that the FMCW LiDAR sensor enables autonomous driving, which in turn optimizes routes; reduces idle times and maintains steady speeds; improves fuel efficiency; extends vehicle range; and minimizes energy consumption and emissions.
He adds that Carbon is designed for use in several industrial settings: navigation and obstacle avoidance in a factory/warehouse, perimeter security, infrastructure monitoring, navigation in GPS-denied environments and mapping.
