iDriverplus selects Ouster lidar for autonomous robotics platform

14 May 2020 | David Young

During the spread of COVID and onset of quarantine in China, autonomous robotics developer iDriverplus deployed unmanned cleaning vehicles and unmanned disinfectant spraying vehicles equipped with Ouster lidar sensors

iDriverplus selects Ouster lidar for autonomous robotics platform

The robots were used in hospitals, parks, and universities to help safely sanitise and disinfect the areas. The partnership between iDriverplus and Ouster demonstrates the potential for large scale autonomous robotics deployments to protect workers and deliver essential services.

In February, after China entered into a state of emergency due to the virus, iDriverplus and Ouster jointly decided to equip a fleet of robots with unmanned cleaning and disinfection vehicles with units on the top and the front of the vehicle, giving higher resolution 360-degree 3D environmental monitoring and front obstacle recognition than was possible with legacy 16-channel analog lidar sensors.

iDriverplus's unmanned spray disinfection vehicle performs disinfection in public areas

Higher resolutions sensors allow an unmanned vehicle like those from iDriverplus to navigate at higher speeds because the extra lines of resolution allow them to identify and track objects from farther away.

In a crisis like COVID, the last thing a robotics operator wants to do is deal with a sensor failure in the field. The team at iDriverplus were impressed with the high reliability of Ouster's sensors, made possible by their patented digital lidar design. "We've been very impressed with the reliability of Ouster lidar sensors and the efficiency of the unmanned vehicles enabled by their high resolution," said iDriverplus.