US Patent 10386464 Ladar point cloud compression

Various embodiments are disclosed ladar point cloud compression. For example, a processor can be used to analyze data representative of an environmental scene to intelligently select a subset of range points within a frame to target with ladar pulses via a scanning ladar transmission system. In another example embodiment, a processor can perform ladar point cloud compression by (1) processing data representative of an environmental scene, and (2) based on the processing, selecting a plurality of the range points in the point cloud for retention in a compressed point cloud, the compressed point cloud comprising fewer range points than the generated point cloud.