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SENSORS · BASICS

What Is LiDAR?

LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is a sensor that measures distance by firing pulses of laser light and timing how long each one takes to bounce back. Repeating this many thousands of times a second builds a 3D point cloud of the surroundings, which machines use to see shapes, distances and movement in real time.

01

The Short Answer

Mechanical LiDARs spin to scan all the way round; solid-state designs steer the beam electronically or flash a whole scene at once. Because each point is a direct distance measurement, LiDAR gives accurate depth without relying on daylight, though heavy rain, fog and thick dust can scatter the beam.

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    Autonomous vehicles Detects obstacles, people and other vehicles around the machine.
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    Robots and AMRs Maps buildings and plans routes around obstacles.
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    Construction and mining Tracks stockpile volumes, movement and changes on site.
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    Surveying and mapping Captures terrain and structures in detailed 3D.
02

Why It Matters

A LiDAR produces a lot of data, so the computer that processes it matters as much as the sensor. Our construction case study runs LiDAR on rugged Jetson computers with PoE, and our LiDAR vs camera FAQ and sensor fusion FAQ show how it works alongside cameras. See our rugged Jetson computers.