actor_lidar

Overview

ROS package designed for processing 2D Lidar data. It includes functionality for smoothing laser scan data and detecting the closest object within a specified field of view (FOV).

Features

• Dynamic Reconfiguration: Adjust parameters like center offset, FOV, and range limits on the fly
• Smoothed Laser Scan: Optionally publishes a smoothed version of the incoming laser scan data
• Closest Object Detection: Identifies and publishes the distance to the closest object within the specified FOV

Dependencies

This package depends on the following ROS packages:

• ROS Noetic on Ubuntu 20.04
• Hokuyo URG Node
• Compatible LiDAR (Tested with Hokuyo URG-04LX-UG01 and UTM-30LX)

Installation

Clone the repository into your ROS workspace:

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone <repository-url> actor_lidar

Make sure the Python file is executable:

chmod +x ~/catkin_ws/src/actor_lidar/scripts/Lidar2D_node.py

Build the package:

cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin build actor_lidar
source devel/setup.bash

Usage

Launch the Lidar processing node using the provided launch file:

roslaunch actor_lidar Lidar2D.launch

Launch Parameters

• serial_port (default: /dev/ttyACM0): Serial port of the Lidar
• frame_id (default: laser): Frame ID for the Lidar data
• output_smoothed_scan (default: False): Whether to publish the smoothed scan data

Dynamic Reconfigure Parameters

• center_offset Offset (degrees) direction from the front center
• field_of_view Field of view (degrees) used for closest object detection
• min_range Minimum range (m) for detection
• max_range Maximum range (m) for detection

Lidar2D_node

Subscribed Topics

• scan (sensor_msgs/LaserScan): The incoming laser scan data. (in the same namespace as the node)

Published Topics

• closest_object (std_msgs/Float64): The distance to the closest detected object within the FOV
• smoothed_scan (sensor_msgs/LaserScan, optional): The smoothed laser scan data

Author

Devson Butani - Package Updated: 2024

For older versions, checkout an older branch