Quanergy Solutions has announced the launch of its new Q-Vision F540 3D iToF LiDAR sensor.

According to the company, the Q-Vision solid-state family of sensors extends beyond Quanergy’s mechanical M-Series line to optimize automation processes across industries such as logistics and warehouse management, construction and agriculture.

Quanergy highlights that the F540 LiDAR sensor delivers high environmental and vibration performance for both off-road and indoor industrial vehicles, including forklifts, autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), as well as high imaging quality, edge compute intelligence and accurate volumetric measurements.

The Q-Vision F540 offers an advanced low-noise point cloud and high resolution, allowing developers to detect objects and critical features – such as pallet pockets, shelves, tables and doorways – at longer ranges with superior precision compared to existing solutions.

Quanergy says that this increased accuracy and clarity enable faster and safer operations, enhancing the efficiency and economic return of automation processes.

Industrial automation

Quanergy says that the F540 LiDAR sensor provides reliable situational awareness in AGVs and AMRs, supporting a wide range of critical applications, including:

• Pallet pocket detection
• Collision avoidance
• Object classification
• Navigation

Its advanced on-sensor Image Signal Processing (ISP) significantly reduces noise, delivering a crisp and reliable 3D point cloud that streamlines and accelerates engineering workflows. 

“The Q-Vision F540 provides capabilities that were once either challenging or prohibitively expensive to achieve in industrial mobility applications, especially for outdoors operations,” said Enzo Signore, CEO of Quanergy Solutions. 

“By integrating advanced sensor technology with on-sensor ISP, we offer unmatched clarity and reliability, empowering developers to design more innovative and efficient autonomous systems.”

Addressing challenges

The Q-Vision F540 is designed to overcome key obstacles that have traditionally hindered the widespread adoption of 3D LiDAR in AGV and AMR markets.

It directly addresses issues such as:

• Limited field of view (FoV) and low resolution in existing iToF cameras
• Lack of plug-and-play functionality, requiring extensive software development
• Absence of developer-friendly software tools
• High costs associated with off-board point cloud processing
• Data transport challenges with edge compute for at-sensor insights
• Inability to perform in challenging environmental conditions, such as bright sunlight or specific indoor lighting, and able to withstand high shock and vibration
• Short-range performance limitations (dead bands)
• Inability to read barcodes or QR codes

In addition to resolving these issues, Quanergy says that the F540’s on-sensor software tackles common iToF LiDAR sensor challenges, including:

• Reducing the interference of stray light from reflective surfaces
• Outdoor operation under sunlight
• Eliminating false data from distances beyond sensor’s set operating range
• High dynamic range adaptation
• The ability for multiple sensors to operate in the same space without disturbing each other’s data
• Motion blur