Searching for applications for 3d technology

[geekster]

Hello everyone,

I am a research assistant at the Vienna University of Business and Economics and we are currently searching for applications for a technology. Here is a short list of the main benefits of this technology:
1.   The technology is capable to generate 3D models of its surrounding space (range up to 10m)
 having a high precision (1mm) while being very robust (against interference).
2.   It can detect movements in real-time (response rate of 1ms)
3.   Is independent of light (works in bright and dark environments)
4.   And it is portable

Is this technology interesting for you or can you think of any problems that this technology could solve?
If you need more detailed information I would be happy to provide you with some further specifications.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

[Jon_Thompson]

I think that the overwhelming considerations in the hobby robotics field would be cost, hardware and learning curve. Does it cost a lot to buy. If so, it's going to have a limited market. Does it require a lot of hardware to do the processing of the image? If so, again it's going to have a smaller market than a technology that can extract features and deliver them on its own. If it has a steep learning curve, people will be put off.

[jwatte]

If this was affordable enough (software + computer + sensors) running on something weighing no more than, say, 2 kilos (less is better) then I could use it right now! I'd use it for autonomous navigation.

Industry use cases I can think of right away:
- automated surveying of floor plans for remodeling or office or factory planning
- optimization of store floor plans for retail
- inspection and modeling of hidden, dangerous, and hard-to-get-at areas: culverts, tunnels, chemical and radioactive places
- local perception for self-driving cars
- autonomous navigation for "helper" robots, in anything from warehouses to data centers where retrofitting traditional location-based guidance would be cost prohibitive
- better vacuum cleaning robots than the Roomba type

Now, I'm assuming that the entire environment can be sampled quickly -- say, 30 ms for an entire environment sweep. A 1mm resolution modeling solution for a full 360 degree environment is a large amount of data. If there is some limitation to the amount of area that can be covered at a time, that would significantly change what the applications are.