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California start-up Quanergy Systems has cut the size of its latest solid-state Lidar sensor by 15% for UAV and driverless car applications (writes Nick Flaherty). The S3-Qi measures 25 x 32 mm and weighs just 100 g. Mass production is targeted for Q1 2017, and it is expected to cost less than the $250 of its larger sibling, the S3, in volume quantities. The S3 will be entering production later this year. Instead of using mirrors to create a scanning beam, the solid-state technology uses an optical phased array as a transmitter to steer pulses of laser by shifting the phase of the pulse. For the S3, each pulse is 1 µs, giving roughly a million points of data per second, and each pulse can be steered independently within a field of view of 120 º both horizontally and vertically. The minimum range is 10 cm, the maximum 100 m, and it returns a distance to an object with an accuracy of ±5 cm at 100 m. The small size and weight opens up opportunities for control and sense- and-avoid applications in UAVs where previously Lidar has had to be part of the payload. Smaller, cheaper Lidar unit Sensing Quanergy has shrunk the size of its solid-state Lidar sensor from the S3 (right) to the S3-Qi