Neato XV LIDAR

xanadu

In the quest for cheap LIDAR I found there are quite a few <$100 units on ebay. They're used and designed for the Neato robotic vacuum cleaners.

Here is an example - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neato-BotVac-Lidar-Distance-Sensor-Original-Factory-Part-65-70E-75-80-85-D/253168956088

It looks similar to the unit here - http://www.robotshop.com/en/rplidar-a1m8-360-degree-laser-scanner-development-kit.html

Also appears to be serial - https://xv11hacking.wikispaces.com/LIDAR+Sensor

I'm mostly looking to just play around, if it will fit on an AB maybe drive around. If everything goes well possibly put it on my rover. Does anyone have experience with this LIDAR unit?

erco

Amazing price. Did you get one? That exposed rubber belt surprises me. Looks so turntable-ish. Inside any vac is a nasty, dusty, dirty place. I wonder if that's troublesome for the belt.

Trying to resist.

Trying.

xanadu

Yes, it should be here tomorrow. I found one for $60 and the seller was local so I couldn't resist.

I have some medical grade electronic equipment sanitizer. It is pretty gross to think about where it came from. I'll post some pics when it gets here.

erco

Nice info & video about using this sensor with LEGO EV3 at http://www.ev3dev.org/docs/tutorials/using-xv11-lidar/

xanadu

Thanks, it seems to have gained some popularity with a few platforms over the years. A lot of them mention the need to use PID when controlling the speed of the laser, like you say it gets dirty.

I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. First I'd like to see if I can use a pair of ESP8266s as a wireless bridge. Then I can put the LIDAR on an AB or Scribbler, do some processing on my PC, and send back commands via XBee.