Comparison of VLP-16 and MRS-1000 LiDAR systems with absolute interferometer

Nowadays, LiDARs hold a relevant place in providing the environmental sensing required by most ADAS. Promoted by such increasing demand, many new manufacturers are emerging and, new LiDARs are continuously made available on the market. If, on the one hand, the availability of LiDARs with increasing performance and reducing cost has brought significant benefits also promoting the spread of such measuring systems in other areas such as industrial controls and agriculture, on the other, it has made it more difficult to extricate in the immense set of LiDARs present on the market today. In response to this growing need for standards and methods capable of comparing the various LiDARs, many international standards and scientific publications are being produced on the subject. In this paper, we continue our work on LiDARs characterization, focusing our attention on comparing the performances of two of the must popular systems - namely, the MRS 1000 by Sick and the VLP 16 by Velodyne. Starting from the analysis of the warm-up time and stability, such a comparison focused on analyzing the axial error of both systems. Such errors have been estimated by exploiting a custom rail system and an absolute interferometer. The obtained results revealed warm-up times of a few tens of minutes and maximum absolute axial errors of a few centimeters in the range [1.5,21] m

Coronagraph particulate measurements. Skylab flight experiment T025

Major results of the Skylab T025 Coronagraph experiment designed to monitor the particulate contamination about the spacecraft and to study the earth's atmospheric aerosol distribution are presented. A model for comet outbursts based on the properties of amorphous ice and ground based narrow-band and white light photography of comet Kohoutek ten days to perihelion are included. The effect of atmospheric refraction on the analysis of the T025 atmospheric data was also investigated

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 202)

This bibliography lists 447 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in June 1986

NASA technology applications team: Applications of aerospace technology

Two critical aspects of the Applications Engineering Program were especially successful: commercializing products of Application Projects; and leveraging NASA funds for projects by developing cofunding from industry and other agencies. Results are presented in the following areas: the excimer laser was commercialized for clearing plaque in the arteries of patients with coronary artery disease; the ultrasound burn depth analysis technology is to be licensed and commercialized; a phased commercialization plan was submitted to NASA for the intracranial pressure monitor; the Flexible Agricultural Robotics Manipulator System (FARMS) is making progress in the development of sensors and a customized end effector for a roboticized greenhouse operation; a dual robot are controller was improved; a multisensor urodynamic pressure catherer was successful in clinical tests; commercial applications were examined for diamond like carbon coatings; further work was done on the multichannel flow cytometer; progress on the liquid airpack for fire fighters; a wind energy conversion device was tested in a low speed wind tunnel; and the Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System was reviewed

NASA Tech Briefs, September 1988

Topics include: New Product Ideas; NASA TU Services; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences