Livox Continues To Push Lidar Industry Forward With Two New Solutions

Livox Pioneer

Livox Continues To Push Lidar Industry Forward With Two New Solutions For Long Range and Short Range Detection

2020-10-26  New Mid-70 System To Offer Blind Spot Free Operation While Avia Brings Increased Long Range Detection And Performance To The Market
  October 26, 2020 - Livox Tech, the world's leading Lidar developer and manufacturer, announced two new product solutions, the Mid-70 for blind spot free short range detection and Avia for improved long range detection.
   
  Since the release of the Mid-40, Livox continues to break new technological hurdles while garnering  a wide array of positive attention across the market place. Additionally, Livox solutions in autonomous driving, mobile robotics, topographic surveying and mapping, as well as security continue to grow in popularity. Using the success of the Mid-40 as a model, Livox expanded new product offerings while emphasizing the optimization of existing products. The newly announced Mid-70 was specifically designed for low-speed autonomous driving. As an incredibly cost-effective Lidar solution, the Mid-70 offers an accurate short-range detection with a zero blind spot performance. In response to the need of long-range detection, Livox launched the new Avia, a Lidar solution that can switch between different scanning patterns, ranges and different scenarios. Its detection range can reach as far as 450m, greatly improving operational efficiency and safety when compared to what is currently on the market. The Avia is the ideal choice for applications  including topographic surveying and mapping, power line inspection, forestry and security.
   
  
   
   
  Livox Mid-70
   
  A Wider FOV and Less Blind Spots Means A Safer Integration Of Lidar Into the World
   
  The newly launched Mid-70 offers a wider industry leading FOV of 70.4° in both the horizontal and vertical directions, while the blind spot range in the vicinity is only 5cm. After being installed onto a vehicle, the Mid-70 can offer zero blind spot to the perception system, so that a safer view can be ensured during low-speed autonomous driving. In crowded and complicated environments such as airports, shops and supermarkets, hospitals, parks, and ports, the Mid-70 can help low-speed robots including service robots, unmanned logistics vehicles and unmanned minibuses to accurately and comprehensively sense the vicinal environments, so that they can avoid obstacles around them in a timely manner. Not only can it improve the efficiency of the autonomous driving systems, it also enables the robots to operate with increased safety.
   
  
   
  “For low-speed autonomous driving robots, the blind spot is always something worth discussion. Currently the traditional blind spot detecting solutions on the market rely on the superposition of multiple sensors — a 16-line Lidar solution with a single-line laser, ultrasonic and RGB camera,” said Christopher Chen, Sales Director of Livox. “Due to the strict requirements for the algorithms and the limitation of their FOV and precision, it is still difficult for these solutions to achieve a 100% accurate zero blind spot coverage. The Mid-70 was created to tackle this issue. by fully covering the surrounding environments of autonomous driving systems, thanks to its wider FOV. What is even more exciting is that not only is a 100% zero blind spot coverage achieved, but it comes with easy operation, simple mounting and seamless installation. Additionally, the overall hardware is affordable and about 50% less than similar systems performance on the market.”
  
  Comparing blind spots of Mid-70 with traditional 16-line Lidar
   
  Solving The Critical Issue of Blind Spots
  
The Mid-70 supports the use of multiple units in series to obtain a larger FOV coverage.  In addition to easily using a single Mid-70 to achieve a 100% forward coverage, multiple Mid-70s can also be connected to ensure 100% zero blind spots around the entire vehicle.
   
  
  Example of how to apply three Mid-70s to achieve zero blind spots in forward and lateral directions.
   
  
  Example of how to apply three Mid-70s and two Horizons to achieve enhanced zero blind spots in forward and lateral directions.
   
  Resolving Blind Spots Is Just The First Step
  
The Mid-70 doesn’t just resolve the issue of blind spots but overall system performance makes is a highly capable system in many other scenarios. Excellent performance in detecting vicinal blind spots has made the Mid-70 the first choice for low-speed autonomous but the detection range of the Mid-70 can be as far as 260m with 80% reflectivity. Not only is it a capable system for minimizing blind spots but can be applied to scenarios such mapping and positioning Lidar in low-speed scenarios with great ease.

  
   
   
  
  Example of slamming by a single Mid-70 unit
   
  Setting The Standard For Lidar Mass Production
  
Before introducing the product to market, Livox worked with key clients and partners to thoroughly test and vet the Mid-70. With excellent performance and the ability to mass produce high-quality systems, the Mid-70 was quickly recognized by clients such as Gaussian Robotics and JD.com, for various different use cases. Gaussian Robotics is one of the earliest clients of the Mid-70 and after meticulous evaluation of the Mid-70, set a new milestone in the field of low-speed autonomous driving with Lidar by placing an order of 10,000 units in July 2020. JD.com has also adopted the Mid-70 system in its latest generation of unmanned delivery robots. Moreover, Livox is finalizing its collaboration with the leading players of logistics park and smart port through the Mid-70.
         
  
  Gaussian floor scrubbing machine using Mid-70 for mapping and detection
   
  
  JD delivery robot using Mid-70 for blind spot detection
   
  

Livox Avia

  

  

All at a glance

  

  

The newly released Avia Lidar solution only weighs 498g, with the measuring range increased to 450m . The Avia can switch between the repetitive and non-repetitive scanning patterns with an increased FOV of 70°. Featuring triple-return, the Avia is able to capture significantly more details, making it the ideal choice for critical power line inspection, forestry, mobile topographic surveying and mapping, as well assisting with the planning for future smart cities.

  
  450m Detection Range to Capture All Details
   
  The Avia can adjust the detection range accordingly based on the ambient light intensity while ensuring an extremely low noise rate. The range can reach 450m in low-illumination environments such as cloudy days and nights. The altitude can also be adjusted at ease during aerial mapping. It can obtain high-precision surveying and mapping details in a more efficient manner, while maintaining sufficient safe flight distance, greatly improving operational efficiency and safety for a wide array of use applications.
   
  
  Point cloud of Avia at the distance of 450m
   
  Dual Scanning Pattern Doubles The Guarantee
   
   
  To meet the requirements of different operation scenarios, Livox Avia provides two scanning patterns, both able to simultaneously shoot multiple high-speed scanning lasers with a point cloud data rate at 240,000 points/sec.
  
In the non-repetitive scanning pattern, the FOV coverage of Avia will increase significantly over time. With a FOV as large as 70°, the point cloud data of a larger scene can be gathered at one time, so that a clear and high-density point cloud can be created. This greatly improves the efficiency of point cloud acquisition in scenarios such as smart city and mobile topographic surveying and mapping.
  
  

  
  Application scenario: Avia in traffic flow and speed monitoring
   
  In power-line tower inspections and forestry mapping, the Avia's repetitive line-scanning pattern can further meet the requirements of higher precision for topographic surveying and mapping while increasing operational efficiency. The unique light spot shape can output data with higher resolution for thin but highly important objects including wires. The triple-return feature enables it to obtain more point cloud data of the canopy and the ground. Supplemented by a special scanning mode, the Avia can capture more accurate data to support topographic surveying and mapping operations.
   
  
  

Application scenario: Avia in power line surveying

  

  

Lightweight and Compact, Integrate at Ease

  

  

Compact and lightweight, the Avia has a built-in IMU to continuously output spatial poses and acceleration data, providing necessary redundancy for the subsequent data processing. Livox Avia weighs only 498g and is supplemented by a board connector solution, providing users with more possibilities for integration in unique customer setups. Green Valley International, a leading company in topographic surveying in mainland China, has integrated Avia into its latest product offerings.

  

  
  Avia embedded in greenvalley’s latest aerial mapping solution
   
  Two New Systems Redefining What Lidar Can Achieve
  
With the release of the two new products, Livox's industrial-level product line has been completely upgraded. Both products bring unique perceptional features and solutions, ensuring a comprehensive product portfolio for both short and long ranges. As Lidar continues to grow in popularity and the world discovers the many ways it can be used, Livox now has a solution for every type of customer. Since the debut of the Horizon and Tele-15 at CES 2020, Livox has worked towards promoting the benefits Lidar brings to the market and the importance of high-grade mass production capability.
   
  Price and Delivery
  
The retail price of the Mid-70 is $799 USD, and the Avia is $1599 USD. Both products are now available at DJI's official online shop https://store.dji.com/product-search?q=livox

ian.he

sounds really good!