Lumibird Ltd
OPALS: Enabling autonomous robotics in the new space economy — There is currently a strong, and growing, demand for technologies and products in autonomous robotic applications for many sectors, including space, to improve productivity, repeatability and safety while operating reliably in harsh environments. While Lumibird's Obscurant Penetrating LIDAR (OPAL) is being integrated in many projects (e.g. mining, airports and subsea inspection & mapping), the widespread adoption of LIDAR based vision systems is constrained by their overall envelope (mass, size, power) and cost.

The objective of this project is to design, develop and test a fully integrated prototype of the OPAL Nano LIDAR based vision system for autonomous robotic applications, specifically targeted at new-space lunar missions. This project aims to achieve a next-generation LIDAR system that would drastically reduce the system's mass, size and power consumption footprint. This new system will leverage aspects of both commercial and space designs, which in turn will reduce costs and g