This is a very neat project, I really wish I could read Russian to understand some of the details in his writeup. The overall architecture is pretty standard for a LIDAR setup.
For the source they are using an osram SPL PL90_3 laser diode which provides 75W peak output at 900nm, with pulse duration roughly 10ns and costs $10.
For the detector they are using a MTAPD-07-013 avalanche photodiode, which has a quantum efficiency of about 80% and an internal avalanche gain of 100 and 0.6ns rise time. Also costs about $10.
For the time measurement they are using a TDC-GP21 time to digital converter with 22ps resolution, although the author has it configured for 90ps counts. Costs a bit over $5.
It is really a testament to the amount of development work that has gone into the lidar and related field, that for under $100 you can build a full lidar system out of parts from digikey including custom pcb's and scan mirror. When I was in grad school we paid $7500 for our avalanche photodiode, $25k for our pulsed laser, and used a $50k oscilloscope to read it out.
For the source they are using an osram SPL PL90_3 laser diode which provides 75W peak output at 900nm, with pulse duration roughly 10ns and costs $10.
For the detector they are using a MTAPD-07-013 avalanche photodiode, which has a quantum efficiency of about 80% and an internal avalanche gain of 100 and 0.6ns rise time. Also costs about $10.
For the time measurement they are using a TDC-GP21 time to digital converter with 22ps resolution, although the author has it configured for 90ps counts. Costs a bit over $5.
It is really a testament to the amount of development work that has gone into the lidar and related field, that for under $100 you can build a full lidar system out of parts from digikey including custom pcb's and scan mirror. When I was in grad school we paid $7500 for our avalanche photodiode, $25k for our pulsed laser, and used a $50k oscilloscope to read it out.