Sense Photonics showcased its Sense One units for manufacturing and supply chain operations at MODEX 2020 in Atlanta, March 9-12. The Sense One represents a landmark achievement in advanced automation and safety for industrial applications, as it is the best value on the marketplace capable of reliably detecting many common warehouse objects from extended range in changing lighting conditions.
The Sense One’s manufacturing safety benefits are highlighted by its performance in forklift collision avoidance and detection applications. Sense One units deliver an industry-best 10 meter range of reliable outdoor detection of forklift forks and pallet slots (12 meters indoor range), paired with high angular resolution (0.27°), up to a 95° x 75° field-of-view (FOV), a 10Hz frame rate, and always-on interference mitigation. The unit is housed in an IP67 enclosure.
“Robotics and machines need to understand their environment in 3D in order to be truly useful,” said Sense Photonics Director of Business Development Erin Bishop. “Similar to how a fighter pilot’s command of machine performance depends on great eyesight, Sense Photonics’ proprietary FLASH architecture provides a new level of accuracy and precision—in all lighting conditions—that can improve performance and reduce accidents. The Sense One markedly outperforms mechanical scanners and other non-FLASH LiDAR units, delivering an unprecedented combination of pixel density, FOV, and cost-effectiveness that makes the Sense One a premier option for warehouse automation.”
Ideal applications for Sense One include:
● Collision avoidance and safety: Forklifts, last-mile delivery and other industrial vehicles
● Robotic material handling: 5mm precision in “High-Accuracy Mode”
● Cargo volume: Measurement and person detection
● Pallet racking: Single and mixed-case
● Environmental monitoring: Truckyards, floorspaces, robotic work cells, conveyor belts, etc.
The key to Sense One’s performance is its solid-state FLASH LiDAR architecture, which operates like a global shutter camera. The entire FOV is illuminated at once and the reflected light is then imaged on a time-of-flight sensor that captures range and intensity in each pixel.
“There is no tradeoff between resolution and frame rate with the Sense One,” said Bishop. “By operating like a camera, we eliminate complicated scanning mechanisms and deliver a high- resolution 3D data stream without the problems of motion blur,” said Bishop.
