/LidarView

LidarView performs real-time visualization and easy processing of live captured 3D LiDAR data from Lidar sensors. Runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS. Contrasting to VeloView (that Kitware develops with Velodyne), it provides experimental algorithms and features, but you may expect LidarView to crash in some situations.

Primary LanguageC++Apache License 2.0Apache-2.0

Introduction

LidarView performs real-time visualization of live captured 3D LiDAR data from Velodyne's HDL sensors (HDL-32E and HDL-64E).

LidarView can playback pre-recorded data stored in .pcap files. The HDL sensor sweeps an array of lasers (32 or 64) 360° and a vertical field of view of 40°/26° with 5-20Hz and captures about a million points per second (HDL-32E: ~700,000pt/sec; HDL-64E: ~1.3Million pt/sec). LidarView displays the distance measurements from the HDL as point cloud data and supports custom color maps of multiple variables such as intensity-of-return, time, distance, azimuth, and laser id. The data can be exported as XYZ data in CSV format or screenshots of the currently displayed point cloud can be exported with the touch of a button.

Features

  • Input from live sensor stream or recorded .pcap file
  • Visualization of LiDAR returns in 3D + time including 3d position and attribute data such as timestamp, azimuth, laser id, etc
  • Spreadsheet inspector for LiDAR attributes
  • Record to .pcap from sensor
  • Export to CSV or VTK formats
  • Record and export GPS and IMU data (New in 2.0)
  • Ruler tool (New in 2.0)
  • Visualize path of GPS data (New in 2.0)
  • Show multiple frames of data simultaneously (New in 2.0)
  • Show or hide a subset of lasers (New in 2.0)

How to Obtain

Binary installers for LidarView are available as community contributed applications:

The source code for LidarView is made available under the Apache 2.0 license.

Sample data for VeloView can be obtained from Girder in the Velodyne LiDAR collection.

How to use

For "sensor streaming" (live display of sensor data) it is important to change the network settings of the Ethernet adapter connected to the sensor from automatic IP address to manual IP address selection and choose:

  • HDL-32E
    • IP address: 192.168.1.70 (70 as example, any number except 201 works)
    • Gateway: 255.255.255.0
  • HDL-64E
    • IP address: 192.168.3.70 (70 as example, any number except 43 works)
    • Gateway: 192.168.3.255

In order for sensor streaming to work properly, it is important to disable firewall restrictions for the Ethernet port. Disable the firewall completely for the ethernet device connected to the sensor or explicitly allow data from that Ethernet port of (including both public and private networks).

When opening pre-recorded data or live sensor streaming data one is prompted to choose a calibration file.

  • For HDL-32E data no calibration file is needed (the HDL-32E calibration values are already incorporated in LidarView) therefore select "NONE".
  • For HDL-64E data the correct calibration file for that sensor needs to be chosen. The calibration file can be found on the individual product CD that was send with the HDL-64E sensor.

How to build

Detailed instructions for building and packaging are available in the LidarView Developer Guide .