Last month, Velodyne Lidar announced that they had come to a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to GreenValley International. The agreement pairs one of the leaders in lidar manufacturing and distribution in Velodyne with a leader in providing different solutions for 3D surveying and mapping. Velodyne indicated that they were already shipping sensors to GreenValley International at the time of the announcement, and the sensors are expected to be used for GreenValley International’s handheld, mobile, and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAVs) mapping solutions, which includes tools which can be used in GPS-denied environments.
Neither of these companies is a stranger to partnerships, with each making news in other deals throughout the year. For Velodyne’s part, they made headlines over the summer when they announced a new deal to provide lidar sensors to Boston Dynamics to be used in the latter’s mobile robot fleet, including Spot. They also strengthened their position among lidar makers with their announced merger with Ouster, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023. GreenValley International, meanwhile, partnered with surveying software provider SPH Engineering to provide an end-to-end solution for aerial lidar data collection.
With this latest agreement, GreenValley International will be using Velodyne’s Puck lidar sensors in conjunction with their SLAM-based mobile mapping solutions. As pointed out in the official announcement of the deal, the ability provided by SLAM-based solutions, which makes scanning without GPS possible, allows “foresters, archaeologists, civil engineers and surveyors to build robust datasets without preparations ahead of time or complex post-processing software.” The Puck sensor from Velodyne is incorporated in a number of different integrated lidar systems, and is expected to be used for a variety of systems from GreenValley International. That includes the UAV-based solutions alluded to above, as well as handheld and backpack systems, all of which can be used in areas without access to GPS.
GreenValley International is a California-based company which produces and sells a diversified line of laser scanning technologies with systems for aerial, terrestrial, and mobile capturing. In addition to the hardware, the company also provides software solutions for mission planning, data acquisition, GNSS/IMU data processing, and georeferencing. They work with a number of different industries, including forestry, mining, and utility companies, among others.
Velodyne Lidar, meanwhile, is among the biggest names in producing lidar solutions for different integrated solutions. In addition to this partnership with GreenValley International and the aforementioned agreement with Boston Dynamics, the company has also incorporated their sensors for autonomous vehicles and driver assistance, among other deals. In total, they have served over 450 customers around the world. In addition to their Puck sensors, which highlight the company’s surround lidar solutions, they also provide solid state lidar along with an infrastructure solution and software.
On this new partnership, GreenValley International CEO Dr. Qinghua Guo said in a press statement, “Velodyne’s lidar sensors currently power select models in our aerial and handheld mapping catalog. We have received extremely positive end user feedback, and we are excited about our future collaborations.”
Dr. Ted Tewksbury, Velodyne Lidar CEO, added, “Enabled by Velodyne’s lidar sensors, GreenValley’s aerial and mobile mapping product catalog has greatly improved data processing efficiency, saving time and reducing costs for customers worldwide.”
