@pepe: The simplest solution is to mount the LIDAR facing either upwards or downwards with a rotating mirror at an angle in front of it (45 degrees?). You can then move your drone around to change the angle with respect to the ground. Of course, mapping so many data points will require some work. You may want to do a quick online search to see what has been done already for this kind of stuff, such as the Point Cloud Library (PCL).
@cyril: Change the optics, the components inside and the firmware on the chip. 
Basically, make a new device for a shorter range!
what is the correlation record in this product ??
Would it be possible to view the pulse in an oscilloscope as it is transmitted? Also can we instruct Arduino to get the raw digitized data from the the return pulse from the chip memory? I would like to understand the processing mechanism and I think I do a certain extent but would like to test it out on the raw data from the memory for both the reference signal and the return signal.
@Sree: It is not possible to access any of the raw data from the RB-Pli-03. If you wish to know more, you can check out the documentation for the v2 here.
@sam: Please check the documentation for this information. You can find the documentation for the v2 (RB-Pli-03) here.
it is mentioned that i have to use 680 mf capacitor but it what about the voltage of the capacitor ?
@sam: To be on the safe side, we would recommend a capacitor rated for a DC voltage about 2 times higher than the nominal voltage used. Since the nominal voltage in this case is 5 V DC, that would be 10 V DC. In the range of 680 uF, you will probably not find any parts rated under 10~16 V DC and most likely rated for 25 V DC or more, so it should not be an issue. If you do not have a 680 uF one, for this application you can use a slightly large one, such as a 1000 uF like this, this or this.
i have got the sensors and i want to use them to bulid a map
can u help where to start ???
Is this can be used in 3D mapping?
@Carl: Short answer: yes it can.
Long answer: Lets just say it is a non trivial project. Here are the two main approaches we have seen:
- Connect the LIDAR-Lite to a pan & tilt system and make your 3D point cloud by âscanningâ ahead, like taking a picture.
- Connect the LIDAR-Lite through a slip-ring (or position it perpendicular to a rotating mirror) and change the angle of the scan. Particularly helpful on quadcopters or other flying robots that can hover / change angles easily.
Looks like a really useful device. It looks like a really good piece of kit. However I am currently living in Japan. I guess standards with regards to laser power are different here, so it may not be possible to use it or purchase it over here.
i am looking for lidar lite V2 but i cannot find anyplace to puchese it. do you know where can i get it? or maybe a good replacment for it?
thanks
@Eran: Earlier in January 2016 the manufacturer of the LIDAR-Lite was purchased by another company. Since then. they started moving production to a new facility (and a different country), so there is none being produced right now. For now, a potential replacement may be RB-Plx-317.
@Paul Creaser: You may not have any issue, actually, since Japan is a full member of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), as seen here. Products on our website usually specify their ratings using the âIEC 60825-1 - Safety of laser productsâ. From what we understand, the equivalent in Japan is the âJIS C 6802 - Safety of laser productsâ, and while it is translated into Japanese in order to comply with the JIS standard, the technical contents have not been changed.
hi
do you know what the idea from using a mirror and spinning the sensor it to provide a 360 scan instead of just spinning the sensor ???
@sam: It is much easier to simply spin a mirror around then the sensor itself. By doing this, you do not need a slip-ring since the mirror has no wires.
ok thanks
i have question about the difference between 2d and 3d laser scanner ???
@sam: A simple scanner, like the LIDAR-Lite, only returns a distance (1 dimension). A 2D scanner would normally return polar coordinates: distance & angle. Following the same logic, a 3D scanner would return spherical coordinates: radial distance, polar angle and azimuth angle.