Required platform:
Ubuntu 18.04 / ROS Melodic OR Ubuntu 20.04 / ROS Noetic
Note: The ROS2 driver is available here: https://github.com/PepperlFuchs/pf_lidar_ros2_driver
To use catkin_tools instead of catkin_make for building from source:
sudo sh \
-c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu `lsb_release -sc` main" \
> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'
wget http://packages.ros.org/ros.key -O - | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3-catkin-tools
For more details, refer https://catkin-tools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installing.html
Clone the repository:
Clone the repository in the src folder of your ROS workspace
git clone --branch=main https://github.com/PepperlFuchs/pf_lidar_ros_driver.git
Install the missing dependencies:
export ROS_DISTRO=melodic OR export ROS_DISTRO=noetic
cd <path/to/workspace>
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro=$ROS_DISTRO -y
Build the workspace:
cd <path/to/workspace>
source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO/setup.bash
If catkin_tools is installed as shown above:
catkin build
source <path/to/workspace>/install/setup.bash
Instead, to use catkin_make:
catkin_make
source <path/to/workspace>/install/setup.bash
Usage:
Now you are ready to use the driver. Make the necessary power and ethernet connections. Make sure your computer's IP address is on the same subnet mask as that of the device. Change the scanner_ip argument in the respective launch file as necessary. You can now launch one of the drivers in the following manner:
roslaunch pf_driver r2000.launch
OR
roslaunch pf_driver r2300.launch
With R2300, the term scan refers to a contiguous group of measurements spanning one particular horizontal circular sector. Depending on the orientation of the mirrors on the cube, the scans may be taken in the same or slightly different layers.
In current sensors, all four mirrors are inclined slightly differently so that scans are taken at the following vertical angle (relative to the mounting plane). Note that the layers are numbered in the order they are scanned during one turn. This is (yet) not strictly from bottom to top:
| Layer index | Angle | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | -4.5° | bottom (connector side) |
| 1 | -1.5° | - |
| 2 | +4.5° | top |
| 3 | +1.5° | - |