Has anyone seen an work done to cobble together some cheaper options than a full scale Lidar? The cheapest Lidar solution i can find is around $30k. And most are considerably more.
I was particularly interested to see devices from Hokuyu which can operate easily to 30m and under ideal conditions to 60m. The accuracy is limited to approximately 5cm. They only scan horizontally and only to 270 degrees around, but if you mounted them to [relatively] cheap platform couldn't they be used repeatedly to get dimensions in more directions? At $6k plus a mounting platform it would be interesting to see what is possible.
http://www.hokuyo-aut.jp/02sensor/07scanner/download/products/utm-30lx-ew/data/UTM-30LX-EW_spec_en.pdf
Mainly just wondering how much work others have done to look at psuedo-DIY Lidar. One day the other Lidars will come down in price and we can just use them.