Scaling LiDAR Optical Payloads from Drones to Miniature UAVs

The recent surge in demand for adaptive cruise control (ACC) and commercial autonomous vehicles has drawn a lot of attention to these innovative applications. Based on pulsed laser diodes and hybrid receivers with Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) for laser range finding (LRF), these systems are often classified under the general acronym LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). LiDAR systems focus light beams on targets to allow measurement of distance by detecting the faint signals echoed back to the launch point and timing the difference between the launch and detection timestamps. This method is similar to focused sound waves used in sonar applications or radio waves used in radar applications.

It is used in a broad range of end applications, from adding topography through three-dimensional mapping of still images, to general surveying of urban settings, telemetry for final docking stages of capsules after reaching the International Space Station (ISS), and mapping density of the forest canopy from the same outer-space vantage point.