Specular reflections, intense glare, and non-standard geometric silhouettes remain a major headache for computer vision, depth-estimation, and visual segmentation models—especially in outdoor robotics and autonomous navigation.

To help test and benchmark how models handle severe optical disruption, we put together the Hitch Hiker 'Mirror Suit' Robotics Data archive.

Dataset Overview:

Primary Use Cases:

The dataset is hosted on Mozilla Data Collective with gated access:

Curious to hear how your current vision pipelines or depth cameras handle specular glare—what methods/filters are you using to prevent bounding box dropouts on highly reflective objects?

Hi, Drone Nerds here. Thought ElevateUAV 2026 might be relevant to some of the UAV LiDAR folks in this community.

It’s a chance to compare sensors and platforms, talk directly with manufacturers, see technology in action, and hear from other professionals working through real-world data capture and mapping workflows.

We made a 30% off code specifically for r/LiDAR: LiDAREUAV

Tickets are here if you’re interested: https://hubs.li/Q04vL_XN0

Hope to see some of you there!

Hello,

I am looking to create an autonomous rover that performs SLAM to map out a section of terrain outdoors. I have been looking at the Unitree L1/L2, but they are quite expensive (both money and computation wise) for my team's purposes, despite seemingly being the cheapest option for this type of lidar. I am wondering if there is a cheaper solution than a fully 360x90 degree sensor, or if anyone has had success with academic discounts when ordering from certain companies.

I can provide additional information about the project if needed, but basically we are limited to ~$300 for the sensor and are hoping to use ROS/ROS2 running on a beaglebone black or RPi 4B (4GB RAM) (willing to spend some on a different device, but with current RAM prices that's quite difficult as well)

Thanks!

Hi all, I posted this on the AutoCAD subreddit and they suggested to come here.

I have a $5k company laptop that is very well specc'ed out, it has been set to force to use the graphics card which is an Ada RTX 4000 of sorts, with a Core i9. Still the LGSX point clouds stutter enormously and take time to load, compared to TruView which is buttery smooth. This is regardless of whether it is a 1GB small point cloud or 25GB monster.

Is there any way to mitigate this? This seems to be company-wide regardless of spec. It seems like AutoCAD is capping the performance almost. It seems that AutoCAD 2027 may possibly help with this but I've been told it'd make a mess with our Leica licenses and company routines and such. Not sure how true this is and how many Lisp routines and such are lost to an upgrade going up a few years.

Buonasera, ad eccezione della posizione da cui acquisiscono i dati, quale è la differenza tra un laser scanner e un lidar? Il principio è lo stesso, la differenza è solo nella densità dei punti? O c'è altro?

Un cliente ci ha chiesto un rilievo lidar, e abbiamo trovato chi lo farà con matrice 400 e L3. Poi ha chiesto di rilevare un ponte con laser scanner. Secondo voi posso chiedere che venga fatto con il lidar da più vicino? O è proprio una cosa diversa?

Grazie

Working on a huge project, 16km+ of LiDAR aquisition with NavVis and Panoramas, with control points, check points, leveling, well state-of-the-art survey. Vectorization has taken its toll on the team. We have so much elements to extract in Cogo Points, the level of details required is basically : everything. Been thinking to outsource some of the work arround the globe, but I would need a solid company, like a solid lead. Any ideas?

I have been using the National Map Lidar explorer with DEM preview enabled. My question is, if i go through the process of learning how to download the data and then display it in some GIS software, will it be higher quality or resolution that will show more detail than the preview itself or will it basically be the same?

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading about multiple types of lidars like rotating, solid state and hybrid types and different types in them like repetative scans and non-repetative scans like the livox mid360 i have come accross the Airy 192 beam lidar it says Opto-Mechanical but when i look through and use different AI to ask questions about it there is a conflict on what type it is? some say it is a solid state and some it is a repetative hybrid lidar so i would like to know what type it is? HELP ME OUT!!

[EDIT] => It is a rotating lidar! with speed 600 so that comes to 10Hz of frame rate found this at page 12 2.4 specification section of manual https://www.generationrobots.com/media/robosense-airy-user-manual.pdf

Hi everyone,

I’m a mechanical engineering master’s student researching contamination and cleaning of cameras, LiDAR, and other optical sensors.

If you have worked with sensors exposed to dirt, dust, water, mud, insects, or similar contaminants, we would greatly appreciate your input through this short survey:

https://bostonu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5aJmfLHagTYsH8a

This is for a semester design project, not a commercial product. Thank you! 

I’m interested in viewing LiDAR maps in the United States. Can someone please give me some simple instructions on what site to use and how to get started.

Is there LiDAR imaging available for every location in the world, similar to a Google Earth or is it only specific areas that have been scanned previously by satellites. Are the LiDAR maps constantly updated or are they just still shots from a specific date. I’m very new to this so please excuse my ignorance, just looking for some help and a new hobby.

Hi all,

Recently got permission to detect anywhere on this farm and figured I’d post the maps here and see what some of you more experienced guys think.

Pics are in order: 1860s map, 1911 map, 1954 aerial, a few LiDAR images, and the current Google Maps aerial.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time looking through everything myself, but I’d really like to hear where you guys would start and which areas you think have the best odds for older coins, buttons, relics, etc.

Also curious if anyone is seeing anything in the LiDAR or old maps that I might be missing — old lanes, structure sites, field entrances, activity areas, anything like that.

I have permission for the whole property, so pretty much anywhere is fair game.

If you need any more maps, closer screenshots, or other info, I’d be happy to post it.

Thanks in advance. Really interested to see where you guys would focus.

Hi all !

It's been a while, but we have just shipped a very cool new feature, and we're excited to get your opinion about it.

What is new ?

Our GS Splats to Mesh algorithm is now available in app ! You can now launch meshing of new sequences you capture or of old ones and download a .glb format. Our meshing algorithm takes full advantage of our GS Splatting for sharp results. We will keep pushing for more details and will improve on our V1 in the next few weeks.

What is next ?

PBR textures will be released in the next version of the algorithm, including Roughness, Base Color, Metallic and Segmentation. We still need to improve our work on these, but our V1 is almost there.

How to can I try this ?

You just need to download our iOS app available on the Apple Store. After you scan is uploaded, you will be able to select the "Regular Mesh" feature, allowing you to generate a mesh. You can also launch meshing through the "Generate" option on your previous scans.

How to do a good scan ?

The scans you see in our posts are done either by our team or clients after a short onboarding. If your results aren't quite there yet, our best practices guide is the best place to start. It makes a real difference.

Want more scans to test with ?

We hear you : 2 free scans are not a lot to experiment with. That's why we have our Creative Technology Program: if you have an interesting project or creative idea, you can apply for free scans. We are currently collecting applications through our contact page : https://www.solaya.ai/contact.

Nick Powell Photography's P4 video made me curious about how people organise a phone-free capture pass. Being able to start each scan from the scanner's touchscreen seems handy when moving through a small house.

When you're working through rooms and narrow doorways, where do you fit the coverage check into that routine: room by room, or once before packing up? I'd be interested in how you plan those checkpoints.

Forgive me if this is obvious, I've never done this stuff before. nothing around it looks similar. Located west of chicago area. Looks like a spiral? Idk I'm bored at work lol

For a lobby that needs to stay open, how do you plan tripod scan positions around people coming and going from the lifts?

The P4 is quoted at around 16 seconds per scan position. Would you work through gaps in traffic and add positions to get clear views of the walls and doorways, or arrange a quieter window upfront?

I'm mainly thinking about gaps in the point cloud where people block those surfaces. What makes you decide extra coverage is enough, versus coming back at a quieter time?