Ouster unveil the first native color Lidar sensor
Each point gets red, green, blue data at up to 40Hz rotation
Deep Dive
Ouster has unveiled the first native color LiDAR sensor, with each point receiving red, green, and blue measurements alongside range, reflectivity, signal, and near-IR data. The data can be used to color points directly or as a rolling-shutter image, and the sensor spins 360 degrees at up to 40 Hz. For points with no return (e.g., sky), the range is set to 0 but still includes near-IR and RGB measurements; for visualization, the range is overridden to a large fixed value.
Key Points
- Native RGB per point: each LiDAR return includes red, green, blue values
- Supports rotation rates up to 40 Hz, enabling fast scanning with rolling-shutter image output
- No-return points (e.g., sky) still capture RGB and near-IR data for complete scene understanding
Why It Matters
Color LiDAR enriches perception for autonomous systems, improving object recognition and scene understanding.