Skip to main content

CES 2024: PreAct launches Moab Lidar for smart cities

Moab is one of a line of sensors for any field requiring detailed 3D mapping and modelling
By David Arminas January 12, 2024 Read time: 2 mins
CES took place in Las Vegas this week (© James Mattil | Dreamstime.com)

PreAct Technologies, a developer near-field flash Lidar technology, has announced a line of sensors – Moab, Sahara, Borrego – for any field requiring detailed 3D mapping and modelling.

The high-performance, low-cost solutions are a better alternative to existing, decades-old technologies, said Paul Drysch, PreAct co-founder and chief executive.

"The flexibility and software-definability of our technology enables the creation of different form factors that not only out-perform existing technology being used today, but also meets the regulatory hurdles around data privacy as well as consumer demands for better safety and more convenience," said Drysch.

Moab is particularly suited for smart city and ITS applications. It combines a higher-power version of PreAct's general purpose Lidar sensor Mojave, which it launched last April, and the AI capabilities of Nvidia's Jetson Nano. 

Moab supports wireless communication (4G LTE, WIFI) and multiple I/O (Ethernet, USB-C) and can stand up to industrial indoor applications. The integrated "all in one box" packaging means that developers just need to plug Moab into their system and start developing.

PreAct said that Mojave is the industry's first software-definable flash Lidar and has a depth accuracy error of less than 2%. It is distributed globally by Amazon, Brevan Electronics, Arrow Electronics and Digikey.

PreAct, whose sensors are GDPR-compliant and 100% solid-state, is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with offices in Ashburn in the US state of Virginia and Barcelona, Spain.

PreAct’s other two new sensors launched at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week are the Sahara, which is perfect for use outdoors and require up to 20m sensing capabilities, such as automotive, trucking and university research. It has a IP69K rating and holds up in harsh ambient light settings. The small packaging is designed for flexibility of placement at 110mm x 45mm x 33mm.

Meanwhile, the Borrego sensor is designed for long, narrow space coverage for security and logistics. The "out of the way" undetectable design has a protective mounting secured behind a support beam, positioning Borrego to not be an obstruction to precious cargo or draw attention. 

Related Content

  • Future traffic management needs new thinking, new technology
    January 23, 2012
    One of the biggest problems facing US ITS professionals, says Georgia DOT's Hugh Colton, is the constrained thinking which is sometimes forced upon those making procurement decisions. It is time, he says, to look again at how we do things. In the November/December 2010 edition of this journal, Pete Goldin interviewed Joseph Sussman, chairman of the US's ITS Program Advisory Committee. Amongst other observations that Sussman made was that, technologically, ITS in the US is 10 years behind that in the world-l
  • Progress towards a pan-European cooperative infrastructure
    July 17, 2012
    Kallistratos Dionelis, General Secretary of ASECAP, makes the case for a lightly regulated, staged progression towards a pan-European cooperative infrastructure environment, the achievement of which should look to engender cooperation between the public and private sectors. Such an approach, he says, is the only real path to success.
  • Cisco & Verizon push AVs to the edge
    April 7, 2022
    Tech firms say Las Vegas test on AV driving is 'huge milestone' in connectivity
  • Argo AI Lidar to help realise ride-hail AVs
    May 12, 2021
    Argo collaborating with Ford and Volkswagen on development of autonomous vehicles