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90 February/March 2020 | Unmanned Systems Technology AUSTRIA RIEGL +43 2982 4211 www.riegl.com Vexcel Imaging +43 664 882 388 01 www.vexcel-imaging.com BELGIUM Orbit GeoSpatial +32 934 057 57 www.orbitgt.com Xenomatix +32 16 40 64 34 www.xenomatix.com CANADA Geo-Plus +1 450 681 2345 www.geo-plus.com LeddarTech +1 418 653 9000 www.leddartech.com Neptec Technologies +1 613 599 7602 www.neptectechnologies.com Teledyne Optech +1 905 660 0808 www.teledyneoptech.com DENMARK Phase One Industrial +972 74 714 4000 www.industrial.phaseone.com FRANCE Imajing +33 532 108 170 www.imajing.eu iXblue +33 130 088 888 www.ixblue.com Leosphere +33 187 590 500 www.leosphere.com SBG Systems +33 180 884 500 www.sbg-systems.com YellowScan +33 977 720 877 www.yellowscan-lidar.com Valeo +33 140 552 020 www.valeo.com FINLAND Terrasolid +358 9 637526 www.terrasolid.com GERMANY nFrames +49 711 997 88728 www.nframes.com SOMAG AG Jena +49 364 163 3680 www.somag-ag.de ISRAEL Innoviz Technologies +972 74 700 3692 www.innoviz.tech Mobileye +972 2 541 7333 www.mobileye.com Opsys Technologies +972 52 281 3733 www.opsys-tech.com Examples of Lidar manufacturers The board uses code written in the OpenCV language to find the main matrix points in the point cloud, similar to a high-pass filter for detecting edges, and determine whether the image is a sign, a human or another vehicle. The simplest version merely stops the UAV if an object is detected, but machine learning can be used to identify objects more accurately. This requires the processing board to run a convolutional neural network that has been trained with data. Conclusion There are more then 100 companies working on different types of Lidar systems for a wide range of applications. All three main techniques can be used for long-range forward-facing sensors with a range of 200 m, and can be optimised for shorter-range applications as a cocoon around an autonomous vehicle. These sensors are also being adopted for UAV sense & avoid applications on the ground and in the air. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Rick Tewell at Velodyne, Brad de Roos at Redtail Lidar, Frantz Saintellemy at LeddarTech, Marcus Dahlem at Imec, Miguel Angel de Frutos Carro at UAV Navigation, Jeff Fagerman at Lidar USA and Kris De Meester at Xenomatix for their help with researching this article. A flexing single mirror can be used for a Lidar sensor on a UAV (Courtesy of Redtail Lidar)