Designed for collision avoidance on drones and robots, the TeraRanger Tower Evo is Terabee’s newest addition to its solid-state lidar product range.
Similar to the 2016 TeraRanger Tower, the Evo version also features four or eight detection zones monitored simultaneously at high-speeds, but instead of 130g, it weighs only 92g. In addition, while the previous version used the TeraRanger One sensors, this one uses the newest Evo sensors, which come in two different versions: the TeraRanger Evo 60m and the TeraRanger Evo 600Hz.
With the TeraRanger Evo 60m, Terabee upgraded the reading distances from the 14 meters allowed by the TeraRanger One up to 60 meters indoors, or 20 to 30 meters outdoors with strong sunlight. Reading speeds reach up to 240Hz per sensor (4 sensor version), or up to 120Hz per sensor (8 sensor version).
With the TeraRanger Evo 600Hz, Terabee increased the data sampling rates. With Tower Evo you can now achieve reading speeds fixed at 600Hz per sensor (4 sensor version), or fixed at 320Hz per sensor (8 sensor version). However, its reading distance decreases to a range between 0.75m up to 8m.
“It is also ROS-ready and Pixhawk compatible, and for drone users we’ve added a LED driver to create a visual-aid when flying close to hazards. Multi-colored LEDs can be attached to the drone and when distance thresholds are reached, the colors change like a traffic light system”, said Terabee CEO, Max Ruffo.
Although the TeraRanger Tower Evo is designed for drone and mobile robot navigation and collision avoidance, it can also generate point-cloud data. Furthermore, it has zero moving parts, resulting in increased robustness, higher data sampling rates for a given point, and silent operation. Tower Evo’s active infrared time-of-flight sensors are eye safe in all conditions.
Terabee’s approach to lidar provides users with flexibility, as sensors can be bought and added separately to the system, and with input from Terabee, the sensors and control board can be industrialized to meet customer requirements or embedded in OEM platforms and products.
Moreover, TeraBee managed to reduce the sensors’ cost by 35%. TeraRanger Tower Evo’s price starts at €399 for a four sensor Tower, and €599 for an eight sensor Tower.
