New RIEGL UAV-Lidar scanning solution ready for take-off

RIEGL has recently added the VUX-180²⁴, a lightweight and versatile UAV-Lidar sensor for high-speed surveying missions, to its portfolio. This once again underlines the Austrian company’s pioneering role as a provider of high-performance Lidar sensors and systems for integration with unmanned aerial systems (UASs).

There is growing demand in the UAS industry for performance-matched and survey-grade laser scanners for integration with both compact multi-rotor and high-speed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) or fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or ‘drone’) platforms.

RIEGL has recognized this trend and aligned its product range in this direction. RIEGL’s typical accuracy/precision and the multi-target capability, in combination with exceptional measurement ranges, wide field of views, extremely high laser pulse repetition rates and fastest line speeds, form the basis for users’ success. These key attributes allow UAS flights at maximum possible operating altitudes, resulting in highest possible area coverage. Both time in the field and acquisition flight times are reduced significantly, resulting in lower overall costs and increasing the safety in UAS applications. At the same time, even more accurate point cloud data with complete coverage can be acquired. This increases the flexibility and, most importantly, the efficiency of the platform used for the project.

Optimal line and point distribution

The new RIEGL VUX-180²⁴ offers a wide field of view of 75 degrees and an extremely high pulse repetition rate of up to 2.4MHz. These features, in combination with an increased scan speed of up to 800 lines per second, make it perfectly suited for high-speed surveying missions and applications where an optimal line and point distribution is required. Typical applications include mapping and monitoring of critical infrastructure like power lines, railway tracks, pipelines and runways. The RIEGL VUX-180²⁴ provides mechanical and electrical interfaces for IMU/GNSS integration and up to five external cameras, mirroring the form factor of the VUX-160²³. For smooth and straight forward data storage, an internal SSD memory with 2TB storage capacity and a removable CFast memory card are available.

This sensor further complements RIEGL’s already proven VUX-120²³, VUX-160²³ and VUX-240²⁴ series, and is available as a stand-alone sensor or in various fully integrated laser scanning system configurations with an IMU/GNSS system and optional cameras.

For more information, see here.