Solid-State LiDAR

固态激光雷达Advanced

Lidar with no bulk rotating part, scanning instead with electronics or a small internal mechanism.

A traditional mechanical spinning lidar scans by using a motor to spin an entire row of transmit/receive modules through a full rotation, giving a 360° field of view but at the cost of bulk, high cost, and a lifetime limited by the rotating parts. Solid-state lidar removes any large moving part; common approaches include Flash (illuminating the whole field of view at once) and OPA (optical phased array, which steers the beam electronically by controlling phase). Between the two is what’s called hybrid or semi-solid-state lidar, which keeps only a small moving part such as a rotating mirror, a MEMS micromirror, or a prism. Going solid-state gives a smaller size, easier mass production, and better vibration tolerance, but the field of view is usually narrower than a spinning design. Robots and cars today mostly use hybrid solid-state products, while fully solid-state units are mostly used for close-range blind-spot coverage.

Also called: Hybrid Solid-State LiDAR, Mechanical Spinning LiDAR (contrast)
Related: LiDAR · Single-Photon Avalanche Diode · Direct Time of Flight · LiDAR Channels · Field of View · Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave LiDAR
Sources: Lidar - Wikipedia