How To Choose The Right LiDAR For Your Project?
Are you looking for a LiDAR with certain specifications but you don’t know which ones are unacceptable to carry out your project? It is sometimes essential to make concessions, it remains to make the right ones.
In this article, we will help you with choosing the right LiDAR for your project. We provide you with some comparisons of the products we sell that are available in the market.
If you have questions about how a LiDAR works or what its parameters mean, take a look at our previous article: What is LiDAR technology?. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to contact our team.
In this article, we are talking about specifications, which are given by the manufacturers. They may vary depending on your environment.
At first, we chose to highlight the entry-level LiDARs, which have an angular range of 360 °. They are very useful for mobile robots that only require 2D scanning. Only the S1 seems to have good performance for outdoor use. Thanks to these LiDARs, you can obtain information on the proximity of obstacles.
2D LiDARs with an angular range of 360 °
| Maker | YDLIDAR | Slamtec | Slamtec | Slamtec |
| Model | YDLIDAR G4 | RPLiDAR A2M8 | RPLiDAR A3M1 | RPLiDAR S1 |
| Price without tax | € 266 | € 333 | € 566 | € 569 |
| Type | 2D | 2D | 2D | 2D |
| Wavelength | 785nm | 785nm | 785nm | 905nm |
| Supply voltage | 5V | 5V | 5V | 5V |
| Current consumption | 450mA | 450mA or less | 450mA or less | 350mA or less |
| Consumed strength | 2.5W or less | 2.5W or less | 2.5W or less | 1.75W or less |
| Distance detection (m) | 0.2 ~ 16m | 0.15 ~ 8m | Indoor: 0.15 ~ 10 (black objects) ~ 25m (white objects) Outdoor use: 0.15 ~ 20m (white objects) |
0.2 ~ 10 (black objects) 0.2 ~ 40m (white objects) |
| Fault | distance <2.0m: <0.5mm distance> 2.0m: <1% | distance <1.5m: <0.5mm distance> 1.5m: <1% | distance <1.5m: <0.5mm distance> 1.5m: <1% | ± 5cm |
| Angular range | 360 ° | 360 ° | 360 ° | 360 ° |
| Angular resolution | 0.3 ° | 0.45 ° ~ 1.35 ° | 0.225 ° ~ 0.36 ° | 0.313 ° ~ 0.587 ° |
| Not | 1090 | 266 ~ 800 | 1000 ~ 1600 | 613 ~ 1150 |
| Scan frequency | 5 ~ 12 Hz | 5 ~ 15 Hz | 5 ~ 20 Hz | 8 ~ 15Hz |
| Temperature range e | 0 ~ 50 ° C | 0 ~ 45 ° C | 0 ~ 45 ° C | -10 ~ 50 ° C |
| Outdoor use | NO | YES (without direct sunlight) | YES (reliable) | YES |
| ROS compatible | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Below, we compare the high-performance 2D LiDARs. They have an angular range between 190 ° and 270 °. They are useful for precise measurements in order to make decisions safely. They have a scanning frequency of up to 100Hz. The more expensive ones can be used outdoors.
High-performance 2D LiDARs
| Maker | SICK | Hokuyo | Hokuyo | SICK |
| Model | TIM561-2050101 | UST-20LX | UTM-30LX | LMS511-10100 Pro |
| Price without tax | € 2,131 | € 2,280 | € 3,985 | € 7,652 |
| Type | 2D | 2D | 2D | 2D |
| Wavelength | 850nm | 905nm | 905nm | 905nm |
| Supply voltage | 9 ~ 28 VDC | 12 / 24VDC | 12VDC | 24 VDC |
| Current consumption | 450mA or less | 150 mA or less | 700mA or less | 916mA or less |
| Consumed strength | 4W | 3.6W or less | 8.4W or less | 22W |
| Distance detection (m) | 0.05 ~ 10m | 0.02 ~ 20m | 0.01 ~ 30m | 1 ~ 80m |
| Fault | ± 60mm | ± 40mm | ± 30mm | ± 25 mm (1 m… 10 m) ± 35 mm (10 m… 20 m) ± 50 mm (20 m… 30 m) |
| Angular range | 270 ° | 270 ° | 270 ° | 190 ° |
| Angular resolution | 0.33 ° | 0.25 ° | 0.25 ° | 0.167 ° / 0.25 ° / 0.333 ° / 0.5 ° / 0.667 ° / 1 ° |
| Not | 818 | 1080 | 1080 | 190 ~ 1137 |
| Scan frequency | 15 Hz | 40 Hz | 40 Hz | 5 Hz / 35 Hz / 50 Hz / 75 Hz / 100 Hz |
| Temperature range | 0 ~ 50 ° C | 0 ~ 45 ° C | 0 ~ 45 ° C | -10 ~ 50 ° C |
| Outdoor use | NO | NO | YES | YES |
| ROS compatible | YES | YES | YES | YES |
The most modern LiDARs are those which can digitize the environment in 3D. You can create an accurate map of the environment to improve the mobility of the robot. The use of 3D space offers new possibilities and functionalities (environment with relief, obstacle clearance, 3D mapping, etc.). These are all long-range scanners that can be used outdoors.
High-performance 3D LiDARs
| Maker | Robosense | Velodyne | Robosense |
| Model | RS-LIDAR-16 | VLP-16 | RS-LiDAR-32 |
| Price without tax | € 3,440 | € 6,000 / 8,000 | € 14,990 |
| Type | 3D | 3D | 3D |
| Wavelength | 905nm | 903nm | 905nm |
| Number of laser beams | 16 | 16 | 32 |
| Supply voltage | 9 ~ 32 VDC | 9 ~ 18 VDC | 9 ~ 32 VDCtd> |
| Consumed strength | 9W | 8W | 13.5W |
| Distance detection (m) | 0.2 ~ 150m | 100m | 0.2 ~ 150m |
| Fault | +/- 2cm | +/- 3cm | +/- 3cm |
| Vertical angular range | 30 ° (- 15 ° to + 15 °) | 30 ° (-15 ° to + 15 °) | 40 ° (- 15 ° to + 25 °) |
| Horizontal angular range | 360 ° | 360 ° | 360 ° |
| Vertical angular resolution | 2 ° | 0.4 ° | 0.33 ° |
| Horizontal angular resolution | 0.09 ° ~ 0.36 ° (5 ~ 20 Hz) | 0.1 ° | 0.09 ° ~ 0.36 ° (5 ~ 20 Hz) |
| Vertical steps | 15 | 75 | 121 |
| Horizontal steps | 1000 ~ 4000 | 3600 | 1000 ~ 4000 |
| Sampling frequency | 75000 ~ 1200000pts / s | 1350000 ~ 5400000pts / s | 75000 ~ 1200000pts / s |
| Scan frequency | 5 ~ 20 Hz | 5 ~ 20 Hz | 5 ~ 20 Hz |
| Rotation speed | 300 to 1200 rpm (5-20 Hz) | 300 to 1200 rpm (5-20 Hz) | 300 to 1200 rpm (5-20 Hz) |
| Temperature range | -30 ~ 60 ° C | -10 ~ 60 ° C | -30 ~ 60 ° C |
| Outdoor use | YES | YES | YES |
| ROS compatible | YES | YES | YES |
Finally, we focus on LiDARs intended for outdoor use, they manage to manage the sunlight to obtain an environmental map. They do not all need the same supply voltage and do not consume the same amount of energy.
LiDARs for outdoor use
| Maker | Slamtec | Hokuyo | SICK | Robosense |
| Model | RPLiDAR S1 | UTM-30LX | LMS111-10100 | RS-LIDAR-16 |
| Price without tax | € 569 | € 3,985 | € 4,289 | € 4,128 |
| Type | 2D | 2D | 2D | 3D |
| Wavelength | 905nm | 905nm | 905nm | 905nm |
| Supply voltage | 5V | 12VDC | 10.8 ~ 30 VDC (1 x M12) | 9 ~ 32 VDC |
| Consumed strength | 1.75W or less | 8.4W or less | 8W | 9W |
| Distance detection (m) | 0.2 ~ 10m (black objects) 0.2 ~ 40m (white objects) |
0.01 ~ 30m | 0.5 ~ 20m | 0.2 ~ 150m |
| Fault | ± 5cm | ± 30mm | ± 30mm | +/- 2cm |
| Angular range | 360 ° | 270 ° | 270 ° | 360 ° |
| Angular resolution | 0.313 ° ~ 0.587 ° | 0.25 ° | 0.25 ° ~ 0.50 ° | 0.09 ° ~ 0.36 ° (5 ~ 20 Hz) |
| Not | 613 ~ 1150 | 1080 | 540 ~ 1080 | 1000 ~ 4000 |
| Scan frequency | 18 ~ 15Hz | 40 Hz | 25 ~ 50 Hz | 5 ~ 20 Hz |
| Rotation speed | 2400rpm | 1500 ~ 3000 rpm | 300 to 1200 rpm (5-20 Hz) | |
| Temperature range | -10 ~ 50 ° C | -10 ~ 50 ° C | -30 ~ 50 ° C | -30 ~ 60 ° C |
| Light intensity limit | 10,000Lx or less | 40,000Lx or less | ||
| Dimensions | 60x60x87 mm | 102x105x162 mm | ø 109 mm x 82.7mm | |
| Outdoor use | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| ROS compatible | YES | YES | YES | YES |
In this article, we have tried to give you an overview of the different LiDARs available on the market. Indeed, it is necessary to choose your LiDAR according to the intended use of the latter. The different selection criteria can be financial, angular range, scanning frequency, energy consumption, etc.
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