Livox Mid-360
The cheapest way into real 3D LiDAR: 360° horizontal, -7° to +52° vertical, 40 m range, in a 265 g puck. Built-in IMU makes LIO pipelines much easier.
The role it plays
Sensors split into proprioception — encoders, IMUs, joint torque, motor current — which tells the robot about itself, and exteroception — LiDAR, depth, force, GNSS — which tells it about the world. Build proprioception first. A robot that does not know where its own joints are cannot use a good world model anyway.
Typical use: 3D SLAM, LIO, outdoor robots, drone mapping.
What the numbers actually mean
The headline figure is 40 m @ 10% reflectivity (range), with 360° H × 59° V (-7° to +52°) as the next most load-bearing number (fov). At $700 in the sensors tier it sits as a capital purchase. At this price you are buying documentation, repeatability and support as much as metal, and the integration cost is usually larger than the part.
How it compares
Same subsystem, closest alternatives. The primary spec column is usually the one that decides it.
| Part | Price | Primary spec | Second spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Livox Mid-3603D LiDAR | $700 | 40 m @ 10% reflectivity | 360° H × 59° V (-7° to +52°) |
| AS5600 magnetic encoderAbsolute rotary encoder | $3 | 12-bit (4096 counts/rev) | I²C (also analog / PWM out) |
| AS5047P magnetic encoderAbsolute rotary encoder | $10 | 14-bit (16384 counts/rev) | SPI + ABI quadrature + UVW |
| CUI AMT102-VCapacitive incremental encoder | $25 | up to 2048 PPR (configurable) | Quadrature A/B/Z |
| BNO085 9-DOF IMUIMU with onboard fusion | $25 | 3-axis accel + gyro + magnetometer | Quaternion / Euler / rotation vector, plus raw |
Where it shows up
Platforms in this atlas that use something in this class: Unitree Go2, Unitree G1, Boston Dynamics Spot, ANYmal D.