Spectrolab, a subsidiary of Boeing, has released a video about their plans for using 3D vision in robotics. Parts of the video are fairly boilerplate, including a description of how LiDAR works, a few shots of someone using Spectrolab’s hardware. But it also features some beautiful graphics and at least one very interesting, pretty unexpected use of LiDAR.
As Greg Campbell, Vice President of Illuminations and Sensor Products at Spectrolab explains, the company’s use of LiDAR gives robots “the ability to think for themselves, make decisions about their environment, and then affect that environment in a positive way.”
Watching the video, it seems that Spectrolab thinks of “robots” as a loose category that covers everything from a little walking robot to your vacuum to your car. If they have their way, we may soon see vacuums that map your living room to avoid running into your dog, and we may see groups of cars that work together as a unit to reduce congestion.
Check it out:
