RIEGL is Expanding their Airborne and UAV Sensor Product Range!

Starting with the miniVUX-1 – to new uses for medium flight altitudes used in large UAS/UAV/RPAS with higher payload capacity or in manned helicopters – to scanners and systems for data acquisition at high flight altitudes using manned fixed wing aircraft such as the well-proven VQ-780i Airborne Laser Scanner and the proven VQ-1560i Dual Wavelength Airborne Mapping System.

The RIEGL VQ-480 II (Mark 2) and the RIEGL VQ-580 II (Mark 2) are especially designed for airborne applications at mid altitudes for use on both manned and unmanned aircraft. Based on the proven capabilities of their predecessors VQ-480 and VQ-580, their new, sophisticated designs lead the quality of the systems to a new standard of performance and user-friendliness. Both offering a measurement rate of up to 1,250,000 measurement/second and a wide field of view of 75°, they are ideally suited for corridor mapping, city modeling, and applications in agriculture and forestry. With approximately 10 kg of weight, they are ready for integration into helicopters as well as unmanned UAVs with a higher payload capacity and are compatible with stabilized platforms and even small hatches. VQ-480 II and VQ-580 II are prepared for smooth IMU/GNSS integration, offer interfaces for up to 5 optional cameras and are equipped with a removable storage card and an integrated SSD for data storage. While the VQ-480 II is working at a laser wavelength of 1550nm, the VQ-580 II works at 1064nm wavelength– thus especially suited to measure on ice and snow.

RIEGL’s VUX-Series, focusing on unmanned laser scanning, has also been expanded. With the RIEGL VUX-240, a new airborne LiDAR sensor with less than 4 kg weight and a sophisticated design offering 75° field of view is now ready to be integrated on both small manned and larger unmanned aircraft. The high measurement rate of 1,500,000 meas./sec and a high scan speed of up to 400 lines/sec. are the basis for high scan efficiency, especially in applications like power line, railway track, or pipeline inspection or topography in open-cast mining. Interfaces for an optional INS/GNSS system integration and up to 4 optional cameras are further convincing key features of the new scanner.

For the bathymetric segment, the RIEGL VQ-840-G has entered the marketplace. Designed for combined topographic and hydrographic surveys for use with large UAVs from lower flight altitudes, the scanner carries out laser range measurements for high resolution surveying of underwater topography utilizing a green laser beam. The scanner’s compact, lightweight, and robust housing can also include an optional digital camera and/or an additional, fully integrated infrared laser rangefinder and is compliant with typical hatches in aircrafts and with stabilized platforms.

Last not least, the RIEGL VQ-880-GII is a further improvement of the already proven VQ-880-G topo-hydrographic airborne laser scanning system, offering online waveform processing and full waveform recording. The new and improved setup includes a green laser channel, an integrated infrared laser channel, and an integrated dual camera system for RGB and IR. Typical applications include coastline and shallow water mapping, acquiring base data for flood prevention or measurements for aggradation zones.