Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
Any ideas on integrating single point laser range finder on Parallax ELEV-8 v3 Quadcopter? — Parallax Forums

Any ideas on integrating single point laser range finder on Parallax ELEV-8 v3 Quadcopter?

We need to get a rough map for a dark area.
Since we just want a rough map for meter-level accuracy and we don't want to spend a lot of money to buy a 360-degree laser range finder, we decided to put one single point laser range finder on each side of the drone and transfer the distance data to Ground Station with the IMU data sync.

I tried to read on some product information and I found some choices to make.

1. Which sensor to use?
SF02 Laser Rangefinder – 50 m
https://www.parallax.com/product/28043
SparkFun LIDAR-Lite v3
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14032
I have searched on the Parallax forum for some solutions to integrate laser range finder. They're old ones.

2. Use the ELEV-8 Flight Controller to read the sensor data or add another onboard computer such as raspberry or Arduino? How to transfer a new sensor data and display that on the ground station with the ELEV-8 Flight Controller?

So please give me some comments if you have some ideas on those choices.

Comments

  • I don't think you can go wrong with either of those sensors (there is a pretty big price difference though). The Garmins and the Lightwares both appear to be pretty popular in the hobby community. I did read some reviews recently that seemed to suggest the Lightwares were a little more accurate towards the top end of their range. Both got the job done though, and did well, especially considering the price of the Garmin units (LIDAR Lite).

    I'm new to the Propeller, so I'm not really sure what the best approach here is. It seems like you've got three options for the data: store it in the Propeller, store it on another on-board device, or buffer/transmit the data back to a ground station. I've been preparing to build a larger drone using the Elev-8 as well, and I'm thinking I may use the BeagleBone Black as an on-board computer. That way the Propeller can worry about flying, and the BBB can handle high-level stuff.

    Sorry I'm not much help. I'm kind of just starting out with this stuff.
Sign In or Register to comment.