Alpha Prime

Alpha Prime, also designated VLS-128, is Velodyne's 128-channel rotating LiDAR for long-range vehicle perception. It combines 360-degree horizontal coverage with a 40-degree vertical field of view and configurable single or dual returns. Its rated range reaches 300 metres on a 10-percent-reflective target, while a 5-percent-reflective target is detected at 180 metres under the specified conditions.

The roughly 3.5-kilogram sensor sends range, calibrated reflectivity, timestamps and diagnostics over Gigabit Ethernet. Motional selected it for the long-range sensing layer of its IONIQ 5 robotaxi programme under a 2023 supply agreement extending through 2026. That historical programme is separate from the sensor's manufacturing lifecycle: Ouster inherited Alpha Prime through its Velodyne merger and stopped manufacturing the legacy Velodyne sensors in 2025. The retained technical specifications describe the VLS-128, including its configuration-dependent dual-return output of up to 4.6 million points per second.