Tilting LIDAR Point Cloud Scanner

A ROS package containing software that controls the tilting LIDAR scanner and generates a point cloud.

Workspace Configuration and Installation

To create a new ROS workspace and add this package to it:

$ source /opt/ros/indigo/setup.bash
$ mkdir -p ~/[workspace name]/src
$ cd ~/[workspace name]/src
$ catkin_init_workspace
$ cd ..
$ catkin_make
$ cd ~/[workspace name]/src/
$ git clone [email protected]:liangfok/tilting_lidar_scanner.git

Edit your ~/.bashrc and add the following line to the bottom of it:

source $HOME/[workspace name]/devel/setup.bash

Before compiling, ensure the following dependencies are installed:

$ sudo apt-get install libserial-dev

To compile:

$ roscd
$ cd ..
$ catkin_make

Usage

Connect the Tilting Stand and LIDAR Sensor

First attach the Arduino's USB cable to your PC. Then attach the Hokuyo LIDAR sensor's USB cable to your PC. Normally, the Arduino's connection will be /dev/ttyACM0 and the Hokuyo LIDAR sensor's connection will be /dev/ttyACM1. You can verify this by looking at the kernel messages by executing "dmsg".

Set Parameters

There are several parameters you can set like the serial ports used by the tilting stand and LIDAR sensor, the name of the point cloud's frame, and the conversion from the world frame to the point cloud's frame. These parameters are stored on the ROS parameter server and are loaded by the following launch file:

~/[workspace name]/src/tilting_lidar_scanner/launch/TiltingLIDARScanner.launch

Edit this launch file to have the desired parameter values.

Start the Software

To start the tilting LIDAR scanner software:

$ roslaunch tilting_lidar_scanner TiltingLIDARScanner.launch

Using the Software

To recalibrate the tilting LIDAR scanner:

$ rostopic pub --once /tilting_lidar_scanner/cmd std_msgs/Int32 '{data: 2}'

To start point cloud generation:

$ rostopic pub --once /tilting_lidar_scanner/cmd std_msgs/Int32 '{data: 1}'

To stop point cloud generation:

$ rostopic pub --once /tilting_lidar_scanner/cmd std_msgs/Int32 '{data: 0}'