Sweep – $250 LiDAR
Sweep is a small, lightweight and low cost scanning LiDAR sensor built specifically for consumer applications. It spins a laser range finder to form a 360 degree view of the world, up to 10 times per second. What makes Sweep different is who it’s designed for. Until now sensors like Sweep were too expensive to be used in cost sensitive products, relegating them to research, industrial or military applications. With Sweep we aim to bring the awesome accomplishments of the last two decades of LiDAR research out of the lab and into consumer products.
The scanner takes 500 samples per second while rotating 360 degrees at an adjustable rate of 2 to 10 times a second. The communication interface is UART serial for interfacing with lower level systems, but a serial to USB adapter is provided for interfacing computers. The scanner requires a 5VDC supply and consumes up to 300mA. Sweep is roughly the size of a baseball and weighs slightly less than most smartphones at 120g.
Sweep is available right now through Kickstarter for $249 and ends 4/11/2016. We estimate delivery in November 2016. We hope to sell Sweep for $249 after the campaign as well.
Scanse has been working on scanning LiDAR solutions for several years. We started off developing outdoor consumer robots for the home. We realized that to do any kind of mapping, scanning LiDAR or something like it that works outdoors is required. When we discovered that there were no affordable LiDAR sensors on the market that met the requirements, we set out to make one ourselves.
Our Website: www.scanse.io
Sweep Kickstarter Campaign: https://www.
