FieldAI buys MicroVision lidar sensors as robotics trials expand
FieldAI has bought MicroVision MOVIA lidar sensors for development and evaluation as the companies expand their work across government and industrial robotics programmes.
The purchase follows tests by FieldAI’s Federal team using the IRIS long-range sensor on autonomous ground vehicles. The work has also included demonstrations of MOVIA Air Plus on Robinson Unmanned’s SPIRIT aircraft, producing colourised 3D lidar mapping integrated with ATAK.
FieldAI’s director of technology, Shehryar Khattak, said the wider evaluation followed “successful tests across uncrewed ground and aerial systems”. The companies’ announcement covers further evaluation and possible adoption across FieldAI’s programmes, without identifying a production rollout.
The ground and airborne projects draw on different parts of MicroVision’s sensing range. Its published IRIS specifications describe a 1550 nm laser architecture, a solid-state scanning system and a 120° by 26° field of view. Frame rate is software configurable from 1 Hz to 30 Hz.
MicroVision lists a maximum instrumented range of 280 m, alongside a range precision of 4 cm at 50 m, 10% target reflectivity and one standard deviation. Those are product specifications; the FieldAI announcement does not report measured detection range or precision from its vehicle trials.
The aerial work builds on a separate MicroVision and Robinson Unmanned demonstration agreement disclosed in October. That project combines MOVIA Air Plus with SPIRIT’s modular aircraft architecture for real-time mapping, allowing sensing equipment to be integrated without redesigning the underlying aircraft. The October agreement covered joint marketing and demonstrations across commercial, civil, public safety and defence applications.
In the latest FieldAI programme, the disclosed hardware purchases are for development and evaluation. Sensor quantities, contract value and a timetable for wider deployment have not been released.
Sources
- MicroVision, FieldAI collaboration and sensor purchases, 1 November 2026
- MicroVision, IRIS product specifications and stated measurement conditions
- MicroVision and Robinson Unmanned, earlier demonstration agreement, 6 October 2026
Image: MicroVision lidar point-cloud visualisation supplied for publication. Illustrative image, not identified as output from the FieldAI trials. Credit: MicroVision. Image source. Publisher-supplied press image, credit required, no alterations.
