Velodyne Lidar, Inc., manufacturer of high definition LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors, announced the introduction of the HDL-32E to meet the demand for a smaller, lighter, and less expensive product for autonomous vehicle and mobile mapping applications.  The HDL-32E will be on display in booth 2416 at the AUVSI show, held August 24 – 26, 2010 at the Colorado Convention Center.

The HDL-32E extends the core technology developed for the HDL-64E introduced in 2007. The HDL-32E measures 5.9 inches high by 3.4 inches wide, weighs less than three pounds and is designed to meet stringent military and automotive environmental specifications.  It features up to 32 lasers aligned over a 40• Vertical Field of View (from +10 to -30 degrees), and generates 800,000 distance points per second. The HDL-32E rotates 360• degrees and provides measurement and intensity information over a range of five centimeters to 100 meters, with a typical accuracy of better than +/- 2 cm. The result is a rich, high definition 3D point cloud that provides autonomous vehicles and mobile mapping applications orders of magnitudes more useful environmental data than conventional LiDAR sensors.

“Our customers have become addicted to the point cloud generated by the HDL-64E, starting with the DARPA Urban Challenge, but have also asked for smaller, lighter and cheaper,” said Bruce Hall, President of Velodyne.  “The HDL-32E features a very similar point cloud and can be used in autonomous vehicles where size, weight and price have been an issue.  It can also be used for outdoor, indoor and other specialized mapping applications.  We designed it so that fewer than 32 lasers can be included, thus lowering costs further. We’re very excited about the many solutions made possible by the HDL-32E.”

Velodyne is now accepting orders for the HDL-32E and will start shipping production units in the fall of 2010.

For more information visit www.velodynelidar.com.