New Applications for LiDAR Technology

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology was primarily associated with autonomous vehicles and robots. However, this powerful remote sensing technology rapidly finds new and unexpected applications.?

Let’s find out how LiDAR is proving to be one of the most versatile sensing technologies of our time.

Mapping and Surveying

LiDAR remains one of the primary applications in mapping and surveying. It creates highly detailed topographic maps that aid urban planning, infrastructure development, and disaster management planning.?

This remote sensing technique captures data that generates 3D models offering advanced views of environments and accurate measurements. These 3D models then provide crucial information for tasks like land surveying, significantly improving accuracy while reducing time and effort compared to traditional surveying methods. The data collected by LiDAR is typically stored in LAS or LAZ file formats to ensure compatibility with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for analysis across different software.

Detailed topographic maps generated through airborne LiDAR accurately depict terrain features like elevation changes, slopes, and contours, which is instrumental in civil engineering projects and environmental studies. The digital elevation models from LiDAR also benefit GIS professionals and land surveyors.

Urban planners leverage LiDAR data to visualize current urban environments, plan new construction considering potential impacts, and aid in zoning analysis, infrastructure design, and land use optimization. Engineers, similarly, use LiDAR to designate optimal routes and locations for infrastructure projects like roads and bridges.

Archaeology and Architecture

Another emerging application is in archaeology, where LiDAR can uncover buried structures hidden by ground cover or vegetation when viewed from the air. As a sampling tool, it conducts over 160,000 laser pulses per second, generating dense point clouds that can peer through forest canopies and reveal subtle clues to lost cities and settlements.

In architecture, detailed building scans with terrestrial LiDAR allow professionals to ensure construction matches building information models (BIM), integrating the point cloud data. Structural analysis and monitoring of constructions also utilize LiDAR to track progress and catch any deviations from original designs.

Agriculture

LiDAR technology has dramatically benefited precision agriculture. Mounting sensors on drones or vehicles enables the creation of 3D terrain maps, analysis of crop health and soil conditions, and identification of problem areas like weeds. This data-driven approach facilitates the variable application of inputs optimized for different field zones.

Irrigation and drainage systems planning can also leverage elevation models from LiDAR scans. The capability to monitor crop growth and recognize weeds helps with precision in applying herbicides. LiDAR can also help improve yields and sustainability in agriculture through optimized resource utilization, which is informed by the analysis of high-resolution field data.

Forestry and Land Management

Land managers rely on LiDAR to study vertical forest structure and density, which informs practices around environmental protection, sustainability, fire prevention, and more. It effectively maps otherwise obscured terrain beneath canopies. The technology proves helpful in measuring habitats and vegetation structures and performing other ecological assessments.

Soil scientists can also use LiDAR-generated terrain models for tasks like soil roughness analysis, erosion control, and management. LiDAR is also helpful for hydrologists in leveraging bare-earth elevation data and modeling important flow patterns and accumulation for flood prevention.

Renewable Energy??

LiDAR helps renewable energy companies with project planning, installation, and maintenance. It assists the design process by identifying optimal locations that factor in terrain conditions. For solar farms, LiDAR data can reveal the best positioning of panels. In wind energy projects, it can offer directional wind speed calculations, which is critical for placing turbines.

The technology further aids in periodically inspecting infrastructure like transmission lines, pipelines, and wind turbines, detecting structural issues or unauthorized changes. Overall, it streamlines various stages, from feasibility studies to operations and maintenance of renewable assets.

Robotics

The fusion of LiDAR and robotics is enabling new frontiers in autonomous machines. Incorporating novel sensors grants robots advanced perception and navigation in complex surroundings. Combined with AI, real-time point clouds from LiDAR feed situation awareness and allow intelligent decisions to be made.

Applications include autonomous vehicles, automated warehouses, precision farming robots, and more. Emerging indoor robotic applications also utilize LiDAR to map and safely guide robots. The technology proves invaluable for tasks like search and rescue, where robots must protect lives while operating independently in dynamic environments.

Utilities

Energy and utility companies benefit significantly from LiDAR applications. LiDAR supports infrastructure planning, from routing power lines and pipelines to strategically positioning wind turbines and solar panels in generation projects. Additionally, periodic inspection and monitoring of vast asset networks becomes more efficient with aerial and ground-based mobile LiDAR.

Detecting encroachments or safety hazards before incidents occur helps protect public safety. Utilities can also prepare for and mitigate natural hazards by analyzing terrain data. Thus, the industry relies on LiDAR to keep operations running smoothly and communities well served.

Autonomous Vehicles

Self-driving cars represent a massive opportunity for LiDAR. As a sensor, it provides longer-range detection than cameras in varying lighting conditions or weather. Combining LiDAR mapping with localization enables autonomous positioning on roads. Detecting objects, lane markings, and infrastructure helps with navigation.

The technology further facilitates real-time path planning and adaptive decision-making when considering other vehicles, pedestrians, and obstacles. Automakers additionally use LiDAR data for high-definition mapping and locating surface defects. As sensors miniaturize and integrate machine learning, LiDAR remains central to solving computer vision challenges in autonomous mobility.

Emerging Applications

In addition to the industries discussed above, several new domains continue exploring LiDAR potential. For instance,

• The aviation industry incorporates LiDAR into aircraft and satellites for collision avoidance, debris tracking, and airport surface analysis.
• The Healthcare sector leverages it for medical imaging, ranging from dentistry to cancer detection.
• The entertainment industry deploys LiDAR projected mapping, innovating experiences in VR, AR, gaming, and digital art.
• Meanwhile, mining benefits from applications in terrain mapping, extraction monitoring, and underground hazard identification

It’s clear that LiDAR is enabling industries to optimize operations, improve safety, and transform how core functions are delivered through precision 3D imaging capabilities.

Future Outlook

With advancements in software, hardware, and data processing power, LiDAR applications will continue to grow. For instance, multi-sensor integration combining LiDAR, cameras, radar, and other modalities has become more common. New solid-state designs and flash LiDAR promise more compact, affordable systems. Infrastructure, urban planning, and autonomous vehicles represent areas that can utilize these advanced sensing technologies for breakthrough innovations.

Beyond visible light, infrared and femtosecond lasers also open new verticals. Infrared LiDARs excel in poor visibility conditions, making them ideal for applications like search and rescue and industrial monitoring. Similarly, femtosecond lasers that operate at incredibly short pulses (10-15 seconds) are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with LiDARs. Some applications include high-precision manufacturing, non-destructive imaging of living tissue, and even quantum computing research.

Combining emerging technologies like 5G, edge computing, and artificial intelligence with LiDAR will lead to an entirely new set of applications that we likely haven’t imagined yet. Looking at the potential of this sensing technology, one thing is clear: LiDAR will play a vital role in shaping our future across virtually every sector.