w w w . v e l o d y n e l i d a r .

c o m  
•  Distance measurement
–  2-3cm accuracy
–  ~ 100m distance

•  Based on Time of Flight (TOF)

–  Time from laser to object and back

•  64 / 32 / 16 laser and sensor pairs

–  1.3M / 700k / 300k points/sec

•  360° Horizontal field of view

–  5 – 20 rotations per second

•  26º / 40º / 30° Vertical field of view

–  3º up and 23º down (HDL-64)
–  10º up and 30º down (HDL-32)
–  15° up and 15° down (VLP-16)

•  Calibrated Reflectivities
–  Diffuse Reflectors (0-100)
–  Retro-Reflectors (101-255)

•  Class 1 eye safe Time

 Feature HDL-64E HDL-32E VLP-16
VLP-­‐16  
Channel # 64 32 16
~ 3”

Range 100-120m 80-100m 100m

~ 4”
Distance, Distance,
Distance,
Data Calibrated Calibrated HDL-­‐32E  
Intensity
Reflectivity Reflectivity

Data Rate 1.3M pts/sec 700,000 pts/sec 300,000 pts/sec ~ 6”

Vertical FOV 26.8º 40º 30°

~3.6”
Horiz. FOV 360º 360º 360º

5Hz: 0.08º 5Hz: 0.08º 5Hz: 0.1º HDL-­‐64E  

Horizontal
10Hz: 0.17º 10Hz: 0.17º 10Hz: 0.2º
Resolution
20Hz: 0.35º 20Hz: 0.35º 20Hz: 0.4º

Vertical ~0.4º ~1.3º ~ 2.0° ~ 10”

Size ~ 8” x 10” ~ 3.6” x 6” ~ 4” x 3”

Weight 15kg (33lbs) 1kg (2.2lbs) 0.830kg (1lbs) ~ 8”

LiDAR Sensor Applications

DEVELOPING POINT CLOUDS

MOBILE AND AERIAL SCANNING
•  GPS: Global Positioning System
–  System of earth-orbiting satellites used to accurately measure position in
three dimensions.
•  IMU: Inertial Measurement Unit
–  Uses gyroscopes and accelerometers to provide a snapshot of the unit’s
orientation and the acceleration forces acting upon it.
•  AHRS: Attitude and Heading Reference System
–  IMU with a on-board processing system providing solved attitude and
heading solutions.
•  INS: Inertial Navigation System
–  Combines GPS and AHRS into a single, integrated unit providing solved
attitude and position solutions.
•  SLAM
–  Self Localization and Mapping
 Consumer Grade Industrial Grade Tactical Grade Navigation Grade
$ $$ $$$ $$$$

Graphic  Courtesy  of  VECTORNAV  

• Point Clouds: computer files
containing three-dimensional data
• The 3D data makes possible…
– Visual renderings
– Simplified or even automated
measurement of objects
– Automated object detection and
cataloging
– Volumetric Measurements
– Automated comparisons of a
“scene” over time to note what
conditions have occurred to
objects and/or the -graphy  
•  To build a LiDAR point cloud one needs
to move the sensor in space to scan all
parts of a scene.
•  Because the sensor takes data relative
to its own position, you must account for
the sensor’s position and orientation at
each moment.
•  By knowing the position and orientation
of the sensor at each moment you can
mathematically translate the LiDAR data
into singe reference frame and generate
a point cloud model.
•  The process of translating all the
LiDAR data into a single reference
frame is called Geo-Referencing
 Accumulated  and    
Geo-­‐referenced  Data  

Note  the  trees  and  pavement    

markings  are  filled-­‐in  with  the    
geo-­‐referenced  data  

Raw  Data  

9  
•  Geo-referencing is done in
one of three ways:
–  Inertial Referencing
–  Registration
–  Using a Self Localization and
Mapping (SLAM) algorithm
• Inertial Referencing
– The location and orientation of the sensor at every
moment is recorded with an INS
– Data from the INS and LiDAR sensor are time-
synchronized to the GPS clock
– Each measurement is mathematically translated into
a single coordinate system.
• Registration
– Targets are placed at known locations in a the
scanned location.
– The location of the targets is used to mathematically
back-out the movement of the LiDAR and translate
the data into a single coordinate system.
• SLAM
– Smart software automatically identifies unique,
stationary objects in a scene (in lieu of targets).
– The algorithm uses the location of the stationary
objects to mathematically back-out the movement of
the LiDAR and translate the data into a single
coordinate system.  
 Iner%al  Referencing   Registra%on   SLAM  
Commercial  Availability   Common   Common   Few  
Loca=on  Setup  
No   Yes   No  
Required?    
Aerial  Scanning   Yes   Yes   Yes  
Mobile  Mapping   Yes   Yes   Yes  
Indoor  Scanning   No   Yes   Yes  
• Data  Collec=on   • Data  Collec=on   • Data  Collec=on  
SoHware  Required   • Storage   • Storage   • Storage  
• Geo-­‐referencing   • Geo-­‐referencing   • SLAM  
Computer  
Addi=onal  Hardware   Computer  
Targets   Computer  
Required   INS  
GPS(1)  
Expense   High   High   ?    
Flying  Weight   Highest   Moderate   Lowest  
(1)  –  GPS  is  required  to  accurately  locate  the  targets  to  cm  level  
Tactical Grade INS
TTL Pulse-Per-Second Output
Velodyne
LiDAR
IMU GPS
Sensor
Serial Connection for NMEA Message

AHRS HDL-32
or VLP-16

Ethernet or Serial Ethernet

Time-Stamped Output Time-Stamped Output
On-Board
XYZ & Packet Capture Format
Data Capture
Pitch, Roll, Yaw Spherical Coordinates r, φ, ω

Post Processing:
Geo-Referencing
Engine

Output
Geo-Referenced data file
Probably .LAS format
 NovAtel
SPAN-CPT INS:
2280g, 16W

TTL Pulse-Per-Second Output

Serial Connection for NMEA Message

DC Power

3D LiDAR Sensor:
VLP-16 &
Serial Connection Power Source: MADDOG Interface Box
Time-Stamped Output 2x 5000 mAh, 15.2V 830g, 8W
XYZ & Li-Poly Battery 600g
Pitch, Roll, Yaw
Ethernet
Time-Stamped Output
Packet Capture Format
Spherical Coordinates r, φ, ω

CPU: Beaglebone Black Microcontroller

Linux-based, 2000mips, 2Gb flash, Serial Data
512Mb SDRAM, uSD Slot, Ethernet, $50
40 g, 2W

System Weight: ~3750g

System Power Consumption: 26W

~1.5 hrs of data storage w/16Gb SD card

~3 hrs of operating time with 5000 mAh power source

http://www.novatel.com/products/span-gnss-inertial-systems/span-combined-systems/span-cpt/
http://www.2dogrc.com/mad-dog-rc-car-5000-mah-7-4v-60c-li-poly-hard-case-battery.html
http://beagleboard.org/black
 SBG Systems
Ekinox-D INS:
600g, 7W

TTL Pulse-Per-Second Output

Serial Connection for NMEA Message

DC Power

3D LiDAR Sensor:
VLP-16 &
Serial Connection Power Source: MADDOG Interface Box
Time-Stamped Output 2x 5000 mAh, 15.2V 700g, 8W
XYZ & Li-Poly Battery 600g
Pitch, Roll, Yaw
Ethernet
Time-Stamped Output
Packet Capture Format
Spherical Coordinates r, φ, ω

CPU: Beaglebone Black Microcontroller

Linux-based, 2000mips, 2Gb flash, Serial Data
512Mb SDRAM, uSD Slot, Ethernet, $50
40 g, 2W

System Weight: ~2070g

System Power Consumption: 17W

~1.5 hrs of data storage w/16Gb SD card

~9+ hrs of operating time with 5000 mAh power source

http://www.sbg-systems.com/products/ekinox-d-dual-antenna-gps-inertial-system
http://www.2dogrc.com/mad-dog-rc-car-5000-mah-7-4v-60c-li-poly-hard-case-battery.html
http://beagleboard.org/black
 Velodyne
LiDAR
Sensor

HDL-32
or VLP-16

Ethernet
Time-Stamped Output
On-Board
Packet Capture Format
Data Capture
Spherical Coordinates r, φ, ω

Real Time or
Post-Processed
SLAM Engine
Engine

Output
Self-Referenced data file
Probably .LAS format
 True  Reality  Geospa%al  Solu%ons  

17  
 Lourdes  Evans  
lourdes@hypack.com  
(860)  635-­‐1500  x247  
Middletown,  CT  
USA    
 
 
 

18  
 Dave  Duggins   Raul  Bravo  
dave@nearearth.aero   raul.bravo@dibo=cs.com  
(412)  877-­‐5587   +33  626  17  22  98  
Picsburgh,  PA     Versailles  
USA     France  
 
 
 

19  
20  
 • SLAM  Fundamentals
– hcp://prism2.mem.drexel.edu/~billgreen/slam/slam.html

• Kalman  Filtering  Fundamentals

– hcp://greg.czerniak.info/guides/kalman1/

• Fundamentals  of  Iner=al  Naviga=on,  Satellite-­‐based

Posi=oning  and  their  Integra=on
– hcp://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-­‐3-­‐642-­‐30466-­‐8

• Quaternions  and  Rota=on  Sequences

– hcp://www.amazon.com/Quaternions-­‐Rota=on-­‐Sequences-­‐
Applica=ons-­‐Aerospace/dp/0691102988

21  
 Frank Bertini  

lidar@velodyne.com  

345  Digital  Drive,  

Morgan  Hill,  CA  95037,  USA  
phone:  +1  408  465  2859  

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Thank You for Using

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