Voyant Photonics launches affordable Carbon LiDAR
By integrating FMCW LiDAR on a silicon PIC, the company says it has achieved exceptional performance and affordability, with the $1490 unit enabling detection and tracking of moving objects up to 200 m away
Voyant Photonics has announced the launch of its “Carbon” FMCW LiDAR sensor, which it says features the world’s first truly effective and affordable LiDAR on a chip with solid-state beam steering. The company says that the sensor’s highly integrated silicon photonic chip is fingernail-sized and provides high-resolution, millimetre precision, object detection and static/dynamic segmentation up to 200 m, and at a fraction of the cost of current best-in-class LiDAR makers. This low-cost 4D LiDAR sensor was developed with the goal of revolutionising machine perception capabilities in industrial, robotics and security applications.
According to Voyant Photonics, Carbon uses frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) technology, enabling instant velocity at each point on top of traditional distance, reflectivity and intensity measurement. The company says this provides ‘4D’ capability, offering high-fidelity point cloud data with unparalleled accuracy to give applications a true real-time view of their environment, up to 20 times per second. Instant velocity also enables vehicle ego-positioning capabilities which is extremely efficient in GPS denied environments and potentially making a high-end inertial measurement unit (IMU) substitutable, adds Voyant.
Carbon also outperforms best-in-class time-of-flight (ToF) LiDAR in operating through dust, fog, rain, and snow, and being immune to sunlight interference, most notably at sunrise and sunset, Voyant Photonics says. The technology is also invulnerable to highly reflective objects, particularly retroreflectors (such as street signs, traffic cones, and safety vests), that suffer from blooming, blinding legacy ToF LiDARs, according to the company. Despite weighing just 250 g, the compact size Carbon is robust, says Voyant, with IP67 dust and water protection, and strong shock and vibration endurance, while the low power required by FMCW laser technology ensures eye safety.
According to Voyant Photonics, Carbon’s high resolution of native 128 lines per frame provides camera-level resolution, and coupled with instant velocity measurement, enables highly accurate detection and tracking of moving objects up to 200 m away. The field of view is 45 degrees vertical and 90 degrees horizontal. Maximum detectable radial velocity is 63 m/s (140 mph). The company adds that the sensor’s software-defined LiDAR allows customers to modify frame rate and adjust field of view during operation, to focus on a zone of interest when and where it is needed and make any small object detectable and classifiable.
Voyant Photonics is demonstrating Carbon, which is now available for order at $1490 for a single unit, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
Image credit: Voyant Photonics
