R2000 UHD LiDAR Sensor—Now with Twice the Range

In many facilities, the use of retroreflectors is highly undesirable when they serve as the primary landmarks for LiDAR scanners to localize the absolute position of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Retroreflectors represent additional infrastructure and require resources to plan, map out, install, and maintain. In such cases, LiDAR scanners cable of navigating using the natural environment in a facility—without total reliance on retroreflectors—are highly prized. Natural-feature navigation on AGVs or AMRs using LiDAR requires a device with exceptional performance and measurement capabilities. The OMD30M has long been, and will continue to be, the industry standard for this task. But when a facility has long passages or aisles where the natural environment can extend more than 30 m from the scanner, the new OMD60M offers the perfect solution.

The range of any LiDAR scanner depends on the reflectivity of the object. The higher the reflectivity, the longer the measurement range. The inverse is true for low-reflectivity objects like black rubber tires or bulk material on a conveyor. These objects absorb the majority of illuminated light from LiDAR scanners, decreasing the measurement range by 90% or more. This sometimes makes it necessary to mount the scanner much closer to the target object—perhaps more than what is allowable in the application. The OMD60M addresses this challenge by providing twice the range of the OMD30M. With the added range, these previously difficult targets can now be sensed from a farther away, opening up installation options and avoiding potential collisions.