I agree, this has been done before by Neato.
However, there are a few key points:
1) Neato refuses to sell the lidar unit by itself, rendering the cost of such a unit the cost of the entire vacuum cleaner (~$300). We are 1/3 of that with far more capabilities!
2) Neato uses a line sensor, while we use a camera. This allows us to do 3D scanning, in addition to providing video and still images to the user.
Would you be able to provide a link to ebay showing those ~$100 sick safety lidar? That would be greatly helpful!
The problem with TOF is a few:
1) There are tons of giant companies doing TOF sensing (Microsoft Kinect to name one). We cannot compete in Tech or cost with them
2) Manufacturer of TOFs (since they are a new tech) refuse to sign NDAs or sell to a small startup like us
3) A more practical concern, we do not have the time or money to completely change everything about our system to a design that large companies still struggle with.
![Embarrassed :-[](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xembarrassed.gif.pagespeed.ic.zcm3EmNu9T.png)
Why would you believe the sensor is not useful in the real world? We are not aiming towards high speed industry, we are going towards low cost R&D and hobby markets. Are those not useful markets?
In summary, I should probably change the emphasis of the device. Not just a LIDAR, but also IMU (with proper filtering done for you), Camera and 3D line scanner.