Low-Cost Retina-Like Robotic Lidars Based on Incommensurable Scanning

High performance light detection and ranging (lidars) are essential in autonomous robots such as self-driving cars, automated ground vehicles and intelligent machines. Traditional mechanical scanning lidars offer superior performance in autonomous vehicles, but the potential mass application is limited by the inherent manufacturing difficulty. In this article, we propose a robotic lidar sensor based on incommensurable scanning that allows straightforward mass production and adoption in autonomous robots. Some unique features are additionally permitted by this incommensurable scanning. Similar to the fovea in human retina, this lidar features a peaked central angular density, enabling in applications that prefers eye-like attention. The incommensurable scanning method of this lidar could also provide a much higher resolution than conventional lidars which is beneficial in robotic applications such as sensor calibration. Examples making use of these advantageous features are demonstrated.