Ouster, a leading supplier of high-performance lidar sensors, announced on March 21 that it has signed a multi-year supply agreement with LASE GmbH, a German leader in laser sensor applications for industrial equipment, to further facilitate intelligent, automated transformation of container terminal and port crane systems with 3D digital lidar sensors. The agreement includes the delivery of hundreds of Ouster OS sensors by 2025.
As part of the LASE solution, gantry cranes at target ports will be equipped with Ouster digital lidar sensors to automate the handling of containers. With thousands of static and rotating 2D laser scanners available, LASE plans to leverage Ouster's 3D digital lidar sensors to provide new solutions to increase and enhance the capabilities of its existing and new equipment.
The smart port market is a huge opportunity
LASE has deployed sensors in ports around the world, including Poland, Chile and the United Kingdom. Its systems help ensure the safe handling of containers in and around the port. LASE is typically fitted with two or four Ouster OS1 sensors for gantry cranes and other port equipment for precise position measurement and object detection for safer autonomous or semi-automatic container handling. This Lidar based digital solution enables avoidance of collisions between loading and unloading machines, personnel and other port equipment, as well as optimal positioning and safe lifting of cargo on trucks. In addition, LASE uses Ouster's sensors for area monitoring to help protect operations in and around port equipment.
The Ouster sensor's high resolution and wide field of view enable LASE to reduce the number of sensors currently required for a given installation, while increasing coverage and overall system performance at the same or lower cost. The LASE system, in turn, enables its end customers to improve operational security while maximizing efficiency.
According to statistics, the smart port market is currently worth about $2 billion and is expected to reach about $11 billion by 2023. In 2020, there are more than 800 container terminals in the world, each with multiple cranes and other material handling equipment. By deploying 3D Lidar based systems that can increase operational capabilities and reduce accidents, the economic and social return on this investment is significant.
Lars Ambrosy, managing director of LASE, said: "We see a huge opportunity to transform existing machines into LASE systems using Ouster sensors in the future. "We already have hundreds of systems installed around the world that can be upgraded with 3D lidar, allowing for more functionality, cost savings and improved safety benefits."
Digital Lidar based solutions are able to avoid collisions between loading and unloading machines, personnel and other port equipment, as well as for area monitoring. Ouster's sensors have high resolution and wide field of view, which allows LASE to reduce the number of sensors needed for installation while increasing the coverage area. The overall performance of the system is improved at the same or lower cost.
Lidar helps build smart infrastructure
Ouster recently announced that overall demand for the 2022 Smart Infrastructure project totals more than 3,500 operating system sensors, covering the smart transportation systems, crowd analytics, and security submarkets. Ouster has been a supplier for over 210 smart infrastructure projects in 2022, an increase of nearly 95% over 2021. Ouster's new software products, Ouster Gemini and BlueCity, together with significant performance improvements in its REV7 sensor, are expected to drive accelerated growth in the smart infrastructure vertical in 2023.
The lidar market for smart infrastructure applications is large and growing, in part because governments are building safer and more sustainable cities by modernizing public infrastructure and transportation systems. Emerging opportunities for Lidar in security and crowd analytics can enhance customer experience, increase revenue and streamline operations.
In addition to this collaboration with LASE to improve port automation with lidar sensing, Ouster recently announced that it has deployed the largest known modified autonomous suite for autonomous tractors in the agriculture industry after signing a multi-year supply agreement with Fieldin, a smart agriculture technology platform. Fieldin has deployed dozens of kits on its customers' farms and plans to deploy more than 100 self-refit kits, each tractor equipped with Ouster OS1 lidar, to major customers across the United States in 2023. As part of its binding agreement, Ouster delivered 100 sensors to Fieldin at the end of 2022 and expects to deliver hundreds more by 2024.
The Autopilot suite offers unlockable levels of automation, including automatic steering and other driver assistance features, automatic spraying, and full autonomous driving in compliance with rapidly evolving local autonomous driving regulations. These features can improve operational efficiency and significantly reduce costs, such as chemical savings of up to 87% for high-value crop growers.
About Ouster
Ouster is a leading global lidar supplier to the automotive, industrial, robotics and intelligent infrastructure industries. Ouster's products include high-resolution scanning and solid-state digital lidar sensors, Velodyne lidar sensors and software solutions. With a strong global team and high volume production capabilities, Ouster supports more than 850 customers in more than 50 countries. Ouster is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
About LASE GmbH
Since its founding 30 years ago, LASE has established itself as one of the leading suppliers of laser measurement solutions. LASE's measurement systems are primarily used in port and crane applications worldwide, for profile and volume measurements of inventory or bunkers, and for steel product measurements. Its products range from accurate distance measurements to sophisticated laser measurement systems designed for a range of harsh operating conditions.
Source: OFweek
