Ouster REV7 LiDAR ups performance and efficiency

Jon Hall

28th October 2022

Ouster REV7 LiDAR sensors

Leading high-resolution digital LiDAR provider, Ouster has announced the launch of the latest suite of OS series scanning sensors, powered by the next-generation L3 chip. Featuring the all-new OSDome sensor, and upgraded versions of OS0, OS1, and OS2, REV7 delivers double the range, enhanced object detection, increased precision and accuracy, and improved reliability.  Ouster REV7 LiDAR sensors prove to be a compelling solution for automotive, industrial, robotics, and smart infrastructure applications.

Digital LiDAR takes a leap forward

Pointcloud of a road captured with Ouster REV7 digital LiDAR sensor

Ouster’s L3 chip is a fully custom and proprietary system-on-chip, bringing, for the first time, back-side-illumination technology to the world of high-performance LiDAR.

Boasting 125 million transistors and a maximum computational power of 21.47 GMACS, L3 delivers enhanced digital signal processing, providing users with more features than ever before. This improved on-chip processing means that the L3 counts approximately 10 trillion photons per second, producing up to 5.2 million points per second.

Make way for the Ouster REV7 LiDAR sensor family

REV7 sensors see more, over longer ranges, with greater precision, improving mapping, offering greater object detection accuracy, and boosting the safety of autonomous operations.

Upgrading to REV7 means that Ouster LiDAR sensors now feature a greater maximum operating temperature, reduced power draw, and twice the resistance to shock and vibration. All these enhancements are contained within the same compact, lightweight, power-efficient form factor of previous generations. Plus, with approximately 95% of the sensor components being automotive-grade, Ouster’s REV7 sensors are purpose-built for production scale.

REV7 OS series upgrades

  • 10x increase in photon sensitivity
  • 2x range increase
  • 50% improvement in precision
  • 7x improvement in dark object detection
  • 2x points per second increase*
  • 15% increase in max operating temperature*
  • 10% power consumption reduction*
  • Same size and weight as Gen 2 suite

* Features apply to OS0 and OS1 sensors

Ouster has unlocked a new category of long-range and higher speed use-cases with the REV7’s increased range, use-cases that are key for mobility and automotive applications.  The REV7 OS2 delivers a 200-metre range on 10% reflective objects, but has a maximum range of 400-metres, enabling the tracking of vehicles and objects in a quarter of a mile radius.

The L3 chip’s 10x signal improvement allows REV7 sensors to better detect close range objects, as well as at a distance. While the enhanced features also provide outstanding detection performance on challenging objects such as tyres, black cars, cables, fencing, and forklift tynes, making REV7 a strong solution for automotive, industrial and mapping applications.  

Enter the OSDome

Ouster's OSDome hemispheric digital LiDAR sensor

A new addition to the OS range, the OSDome offers a 180° hemispherical field-of-view for comprehensive coverage and detection in industrial and smart infrastructure applications. Its compact form factor allows discrete integration of the OSDome into the body of a vehicle or the ceiling of a building.

Packaged in a uniquely small form factor, the OSDome can be installed discreetly in the body of a vehicle or on the ceiling of a building. Removing the blind spot on the top of the sensor means that users can monitor wide zones with a single sensor, simplifying installations and reducing system complexity.

OSDome features

  • Hemispherical 180° FoV for floor-to-ceiling coverage
  • 128 channels of vertical resolution
  • 20-metre range (10% reflectivity) for wide area coverage
  • High-precision dual returns for enhanced object detection
  • Privacy-safe, high-accuracy tracking

Particularly powerful for industrial applications, OSDome delivers floor-to-ceiling vertical visibility, which is a boon for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) operating in warehouses.  A challenge for these platforms, up until now, has been the inability to reliably detect objects directly above or below.

Smart infrastructure can also derive significant benefits from this new sensing solution.  OSDome provides anonymised, wide-area coverage with accurate 3D object classification and tracking designed for augmenting or replacing CCTV and thermal cameras.  Ideal for applications such as occupancy and dwell time monitoring in retail and entertainment venues, or intruder detection and tracking in secure facilities.

The rollout of REV7 is another significant step forward in Ouster’s mission to continually improve 3D LiDAR performance while making their sensors more affordable. REV7 sensors are expected to start shipping in Q4 2022.

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