rslidar_sdk

1 Introduction

rslidar_sdk is the lidar driver software development kit running on Ubuntu operating system, which contains the lidar driver core, ROS support, ROS2 support and Protobuf-UDP communication functions. For users who want to get point cloud through ROS or ROS2, this software development kit can be used directly. For those who want to do advanced development or integrate the lidar driver into their own projects, please refer to the lidar driver core rs_driver.

1.1 LiDAR Support

RS-LiDAR-16
RS-LiDAR-32
RS-Bpearl
RS-Ruby
RS-Ruby Lite
RS-LiDAR-M1
RS-Helios

1.2 Point type support

XYZI - x, y, z, intensity
XYZIRT - x, y, z, intensity, ring, timestamp

2 Download

2.1 Download via Git

Since rslidar_sdk project includes a submodule --- rs_driver, user needs to run the following commands after git clone to download the submodule properly.

git clone https://github.com/RoboSense-LiDAR/rslidar_sdk.git
cd rslidar_sdk
git submodule init
git submodule update

2.2 Download directly

Instead of using Git, user can also access rslidar_sdk_release to download the latest version of rslidar_sdk. Please download the rslidar_sdk.tar.gz archive instead of Source code because the Source code zip file does not contain the submodule(rs_driver), which should be downloaded manaully.

3 Dependencies

3.1 ROS

To run rslidar_sdk in ROS environment, ROS related libraries need to be installed.

Ubuntu 16.04: ros-kinetic-desktop-full

Ubuntu 18.04: ros-melodic-desktop-full

Ubuntu 20.04: ros-noetic-desktop-full

Installation: please refer to http://wiki.ros.org

If you install ros-kinetic-desktop-full/ros-melodic-desktop-full/ros-noetic-desktop-full， the corresponding PCL and Boost will be installed at the same time. It will bring you a lot of convenience since you don't need to handle the version confliction. Thus, it's highly recommanded to install ros-distro-desktop-full.

3.2 ROS2

If use rslidar_sdk in ROS2 environment, ROS2 related libraries need to be installed.

Ubuntu 16.04: Not supported

Ubuntu 18.04: ROS2 eloquent desktop

Installation: please refer to https://index.ros.org/doc/ros2/Installation/Eloquent/Linux-Install-Debians/

Ubuntu 20.04: ROS2 foxy desktop

Installation: please refer to https:https://docs.ros.org/en/foxy/Installation/Ubuntu-Install-Debians.html

Ubuntu 20.04: ROS2 galactic desktop

Installation: please refer to https://docs.ros.org/en/galactic/Installation/Ubuntu-Install-Debians.html

Note! Please avoid installing ROS and ROS2 on the same computer! This may cause conflict! Also you may need to install Yaml manually.

3.3 Yaml(Essential)

version: >= v0.5.2

If ros-distro-desktop-full is installed, this section can be skipped

Installation:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y libyaml-cpp-dev

3.4 Pcap(Essential)

version: >=v1.7.4

Installation：

sudo apt-get install -y  libpcap-dev

3.5 Protobuf(Optional)

version:>=v2.6.1

Installation :

sudo apt-get install -y libprotobuf-dev protobuf-compiler

4 Compile & Run

We offer three ways to compile and run the driver.

4.1 Compile directly

In this way, user can use ROS facilities(not ROS2) if ROS master node is launched in advance via roscore. Also, rviz can be launched seperately for visualization.

cd rslidar_sdk
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. && make -j4
./rslidar_sdk_node

4.2 Compile with ROS catkin tools

(1) Open the CMakeLists.txt in the project，modify the line on top of the file set(COMPILE_METHOD ORIGINAL) to set(COMPILE_METHOD CATKIN).

#=======================================
# Compile setup (ORIGINAL,CATKIN,COLCON)
#=======================================
set(COMPILE_METHOD CATKIN)

(2) Copy the file package_ros1.xml in the rslidar_sdk to package.xml

(3) Create a new workspace folder, and create a src folder in it. Then put the rslidar_sdk project into the src folder.

(4) Go back to the root of workspace, run the following commands to compile and run. (if using zsh, replace the 2nd command with source devel/setup.zsh).

catkin_make
source devel/setup.bash
roslaunch rslidar_sdk start.launch

4.3 Compile with ROS2-colcon

(1) Open the CMakeLists.txt in the project，modify the line on top of the file set(COMPILE_METHOD ORIGINAL) to set(COMPILE_METHOD COLCON).

#=======================================
# Compile setup (ORIGINAL,CATKIN,COLCON)
#=======================================
set(COMPILE_METHOD COLCON)

(2) Copy the file package_ros2.xml in the rslidar_sdk to package.xml

(3) Create a new workspace folder, and create a src folder in it. Then put the rslidar_sdk project in the src folder.

(4) Download the packet definition project in ROS2 through link, then put the project rslidar_msg in the src folder you just created.

(5) Go back to the root of workspace, run the following commands to compile and run. (if using zsh, replace the 2nd command with source install/setup.zsh).

colcon build
source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch rslidar_sdk start.py

5 Introduction to parameters

This section is very important since all functions and features provided by rslidar_sdk is configured via parameter modification. So please read the following links carefully.

Intro to parameters

Intro to hidden parameters

6 Quick start

The following documents are some quick guides for using some of the most common features of the rslidar_sdk. The rslidar_sdk are not limited to the following modes of operation and users can use rslidar_sdk in their own way by modifying parameters.

Online connect lidar and send point cloud through ROS

Record rosbag & Offline decode rosbag

Decode pcap bag and send point cloud through ROS