A joint effort, Alibaba Group’s Cainiao Network and RoboSense have released G Plus, which they describe as the world’s first solid-state LiDAR unmanned logistics vehicle. Reportedly, the most important feature of the G Plus driverless delivery vehicles is the solid-state LiDAR technology, the RS-LiDAR-M1Pre, developed by RoboSense. Reports indicate that this is the first time solid-state LiDAR is being used in the development of an unmanned vehicle.
RoboSense has reached a strategic partnership with Alibaba to provide delivery vehicles with solid-state LiDARs for all G Plus unmanned logistics cars. Significantly reducing the cost of the driverless vehicles, they can be mass-produced, allowing the rapid expansion of unmanned logistics vehicles and streamlining mass market delivery logistics. The goal here is rapid popularization of the vehicles. The unmanned cars and trucks can also be equipped with different smart devices according to demand, turning the vehicle into a courier vehicle, a mobile self-pickup station, a mobile coffee vending cart, etc., which can be applied to various new retail scenarios.
The G Plus delivery vehicle is equipped with three RS-LiDAR-M1Pres, two in the front and one in the rear, to ensure the most reliable 3D perception of the driving environment. This allows unmanned delivery vehicles to clearly see the direction of travel, including the shape, distance, azimuth, travel speed, and direction of travel of pedestrians, cars, trucks, and other obstacles, as well as the exact areas on which roads can be driven, etc.
RoboSense LiDAR Costs A Few Hundred Dollars
The RS-LiDAR-M1Pre is the first MEMS solid-state LiDAR launched by RoboSense. The core technology of the MEMS solid-state LiDAR is disruptive to traditional mechanical multi-beam radars. The MEMS micro mirror scanning scheme used in the RS-LiDAR-M1Pre requires only a few laser emitters and receivers to scan through the MEMS micro-mirror in both directions because of the swing angle. The resolution is a very fine, high angle and vertical angle resolution that reaches 0.2° throughout the angle of view.
In contrast, for traditional mechanical multi-beam LiDAR to achieve the same effect, they require more than a hundred laser transmitters and receivers to rotate and scan at the same time, which greatly increases material and human costs and reduces yield and reliability, making the advantages of MEMS solid-state LiDAR technology obvious. While improving the performance of LiDAR, the cost savings is also great, and at the same time the miniaturization of the scanning structure greatly improves the stability of LiDAR. For more details, visit RoboSense.