[candiodari]

The best cheap lidar for indoor robots, and limited outdoor is built by microsoft, called "kinect". Beats the pants of any lidar that existed in 2005 that cost less than $100k, except on range.

Comes with open source libraries and is a pretty great piece of equipment for indoor navigation.

[zardeh]

Minus the part where it isn't a lidar. Sure its a great sensor, but if you need a lidar, then you can't use a kinect. And alternatively, if you need 360 degree fov, etc. an actual lider is often better.

[jsjohnst]

IR sensor array != to LIDAR. There is no pulsed Laser in Kinect.