3D Mapping with LIDAR

Google's Streetview next step?

With these autonomous robots, anyone can now map a large area in 3D with laser precision.

The trick about these ROAMS is that they use a lower cost 2D LIDAR and a rotating mirror to do the job of the much more expensive 3D LIDAR systems. This means that they can drop the price from $100,000 to just about $6,000.

Truth be told, Google already uses LIDAR in their streetview vehicles, but I doubt they're capturing such accurate measurements as these one. But, who knows? Maybe a Lidar Mapped Streetview 3D is just around the corner! :)