Velodyne LiDAR, Paracosm team up to capture environments in 3D

Paracosm’s PX-80 handheld 3D scanner has Velodyne lidar inside. (Photo: Paracosm)

Paracosm’s PX-80 mobile 3D scanner leverages lightweight, powerful VLP-16 Puck for fast and accurate surveying of indoor and outdoor areas.

Velodyne LiDAR Inc., which makes 3D vision systems for autonomous vehicles, and Paracosm, a division of Occipital, have integrated Velodyne’s VLP-16 Puck lidar sensors into Paracosm’s PX-80 handheld 3D scanner.

The PX-80 3D scanner is commonly used for geospatial, construction and industrial applications to survey a wide array of spaces from large office buildings to thick forests.

Paracosm’s PX-80 uses Velodyne’s VLP-16 Puck and its own proprietary SLAM technology — itself a fusion of lidar, color imagery and inertial measurement unit (IMU) data — to produce detailed three-dimensional documentation of complex environments and geometries in minutes.

The resulting point clouds come in full color with corresponding spherical imagery that can provide virtual tours along with accurate 3D measurements. With the lightweight VLP-16 lidar sensor from Velodyne, Paracosm is able to offer a handheld scanner with unprecedented accuracy, range and detail.

“When we first began our 3D mapping journey, we wanted to be able to capture huge environments as fast as possible, but were limited by the range and accuracy of available sensors,” said Amir Rubin, president of Paracosm. “After searching far and wide for a better solution, we found that the VLP-16 was the best combination of size, accuracy, and functionality to fit our needs.”

“Paracosm has proven its ability to expand the application of lidar into handheld use cases, allowing the PX-80 to become one of the most accurate and versatile mobile 3D scanners on the market,” said Mike Jellen, president and chief commercial officer, Velodyne LiDAR. “We are thrilled to partner with Paracosm for their development of the PX-80 and look forward to working with them as they expand their footprint.”

As the VLP-16 is the smallest commercially available sensor in Velodyne’s lidar portfolio, it is the easiest to embed in other products. “The performance of the VLP-16 is unrivaled in the marketplace. We remain deeply impressed with the range, acquisition rate, noise levels and accuracy it provides in such a compact form factor,” said Gannon Wilder, who leads business development in the Paracosm division.

Both Velodyne LiDAR and Paracosm will be at the Consumer Electronics show (CES) providing product demonstrations. Velodyne LiDAR will be at Booth #3525 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, while Paracosm will be at Booth #21029 in South Hall 1.