Best Hokuyo LiDAR unit

Question

Hi All,

I am looking into buying a Hokuyo LiDAR unit, but thought i would check with the community about what sensors are compatible with ROS and which have had issues.

Many of their sensors are found here: link

I am quite interested in the UST-05LN as it is cheap, IP65 and USB. Has anyone used this with ROS?

My application is outdoors in a forested environment in which i don't require more than 10 meters of depth.

Cheers.

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Originally posted by anonymous8676 on ROS Answers with karma: 327 on 2014-07-28

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Original comments

Comment by ahendrix on 2014-07-28:
How big of a space will you be working in, and will it be indoors or outdoors? My URG-04LX-UG01 works well in my apartment, but the minimum range means that it doesn't always see the walls in large rooms, and it needs a sunshade to operate reliably outdoors.

Comment by anonymous8676 on 2014-07-29:
@ahendrix apologies i should have added my application. I am working in a forested environment (outdoors) where i don;t require more than 10 meters of data.

Answer 1

The UST series is pretty new, so there are not many people who have used it yet. It is used on the UBR-1 however and @fergs already reported using the 20m version without problems. It thus appears these LIDARs work with the urg_node driver. I´d recommend using at least the 10m version (it´s only a little more expensive than the 5m version), as this will likely be beneficial as soon as you want to use the system in more open spaces.

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Originally posted by Stefan Kohlbrecher with karma: 24361 on 2014-07-29

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Post score: 2

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Original comments

Comment by dornhege on 2014-07-31:
UST-05LN documentation lists: Avoid direct sunlight. I could not find this remark for the larger versions (although it might be a good idea to check that). For outdoors use I would not recommend this scanner. We had major problems with the URG-05LX in sunlight (which you might still get in a forest)

Answer 2

Although you said you were looking for a Hokuyo lidar, I would go with the Sick TiM551. It does both USB and Ethernet, the device is rated for outdoors(IP67). The package to run the lidar is also really well done: urdf/transforms included, support for both usb/ethernet, range limiting, etc...

http://wiki.ros.org/sick_tim3xx

I've used the Hokuyo utm-30lx/ew and also the Sick lms111/tim551. IMO, I've had a better experience using the sick lidars.

In my search for a lidar, the factor which made the price gap was needing one which works outdoors. So I'm unsure if you can find a "cheap" outdoor lidar. And of course, the price also depends on who you buy from. Last note about price. If you want to use the ethernet cable, it is also rated IP67 so it would cost more than your average ethernet cable.

Best of luck!

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Originally posted by pwong with karma: 447 on 2014-07-31

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Answer 3

Thanks for the advice on such an open ended questions. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so specific to use a Hokuyo unit, but they do seem to be more available than SICK.

Some outcomes:

• Hokuyo only have have three outdoor sensors: UTM-30LX, UTM-30LX-EW, UXM-30LX-EW.
• SCIP2.2 and earlier range finders are well supported with URG
• Hokuyo is well supported in ROS and tools on their site.
• An evaluation of the benefits of Multi-Echo needs to be performed. Some results are shown here

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Originally posted by anonymous8676 with karma: 327 on 2014-07-31

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