Cheap lidar Delta 2g, Xiaomi

Robot Hardware
#1

Hi,
does it make sense to buy a cheap LIDAR for a hobby robot?
Delta 2g - Not Black Magic: LiDAR Modules
or
Xiaomi Lidar - All about the Xiaomi Lidar Scanner and the Sunfounder RasPad - YouTube

what do you think?

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#2

Interesting - I don’t recall coming across either of these when I was looking a while back.
I think they are potentially good options for someone who knows what they are doing and wants to save some money, but some reasons I’d be hesitant to recommend them to a beginner are:

  • Availability of stock may be less reliable than dedicated hobby lidars
  • Interfacing with them may require custom hardware/cabling
  • There is likely no official driver/SDK/ROS node available
  • Functionality/performances/interfaces are probably undocumented and unvalidated

That being said, if those aren’t a turn off then I’d say go for it! And if anyone does - please report back with your results :smiley:

#3

Hi,
I would provide my experiences with a cheap 2D-lidar.
I use this scanner on my “low budget” robot:

For me it was cheaper than 30$ So it was worth to taking a look. :wink:
360 Degree Lidar Ranging Module Sweeping Machine robot vacuum cleaner Scanning Turtlebot3 Radar Module Laser Distance Sensor| | - AliExpress

It´s a similar scanner like robotis used in the turtlebot3 before they switched over to another brand.

I have written down a bit in my smal blog.
Unfortunally written in german, but I think the most important is, that it runs with an simple connection with an FTDI-UART-to-USB adapter.

Blog link: mein Roboter: LIDAR löppt! (mein-roboter.blogspot.com)

I took the driver-package from robotis (foxy-devel) in my workspace and implement it into my robot. For me it runs very stable.

Let me know if you have questions.
BTW @JoshNewans please keep going on with your great content!

BR Thomas

#4

Thanks for that contribution, and particularly for documenting your experience! It’s good to know that people are able to get these kinds of cheaper sensors up and going without TOO much hassle :slight_smile:

#5

Unfortunally my LIDAR got a defect while testing the mapping of your great tutorials. So I´d to get a new one. Luckily I got the same model! :wink:

But while I research for a alternative, I bought a broken “Neato Botvac D7”. Because the LIDAR sensor schould work with ROS too. Shortly I hooked it up to my UART and again, a great alternative is here!

For help, I wrote a few rows again in my blog. LIDAR v2 - eine Alternative muss her

So, if anyone got some questions, I can share my experience. :wink:

Have a great day and keep safe!
BR from Germany Thomas

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