Livox ROS Driver 2 is the 2nd-generation driver package used to connect LiDAR products produced by Livox, applicable for ROS (noetic recommended) and ROS2 (foxy or humble recommended).
Note :
As a debugging tool, Livox ROS Driver is not recommended for mass production but limited to test scenarios. You should optimize the code based on the original source to meet your various needs.
- Ubuntu 18.04 for ROS Melodic;
- Ubuntu 20.04 for ROS Noetic and ROS2 Foxy;
- Ubuntu 22.04 for ROS2 Humble;
Tips:
Colcon is a build tool used in ROS2.
How to install colcon: Colcon installation instructions
For ROS Melodic installation, please refer to: ROS Melodic installation instructions
For ROS Noetic installation, please refer to: ROS Noetic installation instructions
For ROS2 Foxy installation, please refer to: ROS Foxy installation instructions
For ROS2 Humble installation, please refer to: ROS Humble installation instructions
Desktop-Full installation is recommend.
git clone https://github.com/Livox-SDK/livox_ros_driver2.git ws_livox/src/livox_ros_driver2Note :
Be sure to clone the source code in a '[work_space]/src/' folder (as shown above), otherwise compilation errors will occur due to the compilation tool restriction.
Note :
Please follow the guidance of installation in the Livox-SDK2/README.md
source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.sh
./build.sh ROS1source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.sh
./build.sh ROS2source /opt/ros/humble/setup.sh
./build.sh humblesource ../../devel/setup.sh
roslaunch livox_ros_driver2 [launch file]in which,
- livox_ros_driver2 : is the ROS package name of Livox ROS Driver 2;
- [launch file] : is the ROS launch file you want to use; the 'launch_ROS1' folder contains several launch samples for your reference;
An rviz launch example for HAP LiDAR would be:
roslaunch livox_ros_driver2 rviz_HAP.launchsource ../../install/setup.sh
ros2 launch livox_ros_driver2 [launch file]in which,
- [launch file] : is the ROS2 launch file you want to use; the 'launch_ROS2' folder contains several launch samples for your reference.
A rviz launch example for HAP LiDAR would be:
ros2 launch livox_ros_driver2 rviz_HAP_launch.pyLaunch files of ROS are in the "ws_livox/src/livox_ros_driver2/launch_ROS1" directory and launch files of ROS2 are in the "ws_livox/src/livox_ros_driver2/launch_ROS2" directory. Different launch files have different configuration parameter values and are used in different scenarios:
| launch file name | Description |
|---|---|
| rviz_HAP.launch | Connect to HAP LiDAR device Publish pointcloud2 format data Autoload rviz |
| msg_HAP.launch | Connect to HAP LiDAR device Publish livox customized pointcloud data |
| rviz_MID360.launch | Connect to MID360 LiDAR device Publish pointcloud2 format data Autoload rviz |
| msg_MID360.launch | Connect to MID360 LiDAR device Publish livox customized pointcloud data |
| rviz_mixed.launch | Connect to HAP and MID360 LiDAR device Publish pointcloud2 format data Autoload rviz |
| msg_mixed.launch | Connect to HAP and MID360 LiDAR device Publish livox customized pointcloud data |
All internal parameters of Livox_ros_driver2 are in the launch file. Below are detailed descriptions of the three commonly used parameters :
| Parameter | Detailed description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| publish_freq | Set the frequency of point cloud publish Floating-point data type, recommended values 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 50.0, etc. The maximum publish frequency is 100.0 Hz. |
10.0 |
| multi_topic | If the LiDAR device has an independent topic to publish pointcloud data 0 -- All LiDAR devices use the same topic to publish pointcloud data 1 -- Each LiDAR device has its own topic to publish point cloud data |
0 |
| xfer_format | Set pointcloud format 0 -- Livox pointcloud2(PointXYZRTLT) pointcloud format 1 -- Livox customized pointcloud format 2 -- Standard pointcloud2 (pcl :: PointXYZI) pointcloud format in the PCL library (just for ROS) |
0 |
Note :
Other parameters not mentioned in this table are not suggested to be changed unless fully understood.
Livox_ros_driver2 pointcloud data detailed description :
- Livox pointcloud2 (PointXYZRTLT) point cloud format, as follows :
float32 x # X axis, unit:m
float32 y # Y axis, unit:m
float32 z # Z axis, unit:m
float32 intensity # the value is reflectivity, 0.0~255.0
uint8 tag # livox tag
uint8 line # laser number in lidar
float64 timestamp # Timestamp of pointNote :
The number of points in the frame may be different, but each point provides a timestamp.
- Livox customized data package format, as follows :
std_msgs/Header header # ROS standard message header
uint64 timebase # The time of first point
uint32 point_num # Total number of pointclouds
uint8 lidar_id # Lidar device id number
uint8[3] rsvd # Reserved use
CustomPoint[] points # Pointcloud dataCustomized Point Cloud (CustomPoint) format in the above customized data package :
uint32 offset_time # offset time relative to the base time
float32 x # X axis, unit:m
float32 y # Y axis, unit:m
float32 z # Z axis, unit:m
uint8 reflectivity # reflectivity, 0~255
uint8 tag # livox tag
uint8 line # laser number in lidar- The standard pointcloud2 (pcl :: PointXYZI) format in the PCL library (only ROS can publish):
Please refer to the pcl :: PointXYZI data structure in the point_types.hpp file of the PCL library.
LiDAR Configurations (such as ip, port, data type... etc.) can be set via a json-style config file. Config files for single HAP, Mid360 and mixed-LiDARs are in the "config" folder. The parameter naming 'user_config_path' in launch files indicates such json file path.
- Follow is a configuration example for HAP LiDAR (located in config/HAP_config.json):
{
"lidar_summary_info" : {
"lidar_type": 8 # protocol type index, please don't revise this value
},
"HAP": {
"device_type" : "HAP",
"lidar_ipaddr": "",
"lidar_net_info" : {
"cmd_data_port": 56000, # command port
"push_msg_port": 0,
"point_data_port": 57000,
"imu_data_port": 58000,
"log_data_port": 59000
},
"host_net_info" : {
"cmd_data_ip" : "192.168.1.5", # host ip (it can be revised)
"cmd_data_port": 56000,
"push_msg_ip": "",
"push_msg_port": 0,
"point_data_ip": "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"point_data_port": 57000,
"imu_data_ip" : "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"imu_data_port": 58000,
"log_data_ip" : "",
"log_data_port": 59000
}
},
"lidar_configs" : [
{
"ip" : "192.168.1.100", # ip of the LiDAR you want to config
"pcl_data_type" : 1,
"pattern_mode" : 0,
"blind_spot_set" : 50,
"extrinsic_parameter" : {
"roll": 0.0,
"pitch": 0.0,
"yaw": 0.0,
"x": 0,
"y": 0,
"z": 0
}
}
]
}The parameter attributes in the above json file are described in the following table :
LiDAR configuration parameter
| Parameter | Type | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| ip | String | Ip of the LiDAR you want to config | 192.168.1.100 |
| pcl_data_type | Int | Choose the resolution of the point cloud data to send 1 -- Cartesian coordinate data (32 bits) 2 -- Cartesian coordinate data (16 bits) 3 --Spherical coordinate data |
1 |
| pattern_mode | Int | Space scan pattern 0 -- non-repeating scanning pattern mode 1 -- repeating scanning pattern mode 2 -- repeating scanning pattern mode (low scanning rate) |
0 |
| blind_spot_set (Only for HAP LiDAR) | Int | Set blind spot Range from 50 cm to 200 cm |
50 |
| extrinsic_parameter | Set extrinsic parameter The data types of "roll" "picth" "yaw" are float The data types of "x" "y" "z" are int |
For more infomation about the HAP config, please refer to: HAP Config File Description
- When connecting multiple LiDARs, add objects corresponding to different LiDARs to the "lidar_configs" array. Examples of mixed-LiDARs config file contents are as follows :
{
"lidar_summary_info" : {
"lidar_type": 8 # protocol type index, please don't revise this value
},
"HAP": {
"lidar_net_info" : { # HAP ports, please don't revise these values
"cmd_data_port": 56000, # HAP command port
"push_msg_port": 0,
"point_data_port": 57000,
"imu_data_port": 58000,
"log_data_port": 59000
},
"host_net_info" : {
"cmd_data_ip" : "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"cmd_data_port": 56000,
"push_msg_ip": "",
"push_msg_port": 0,
"point_data_ip": "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"point_data_port": 57000,
"imu_data_ip" : "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"imu_data_port": 58000,
"log_data_ip" : "",
"log_data_port": 59000
}
},
"MID360": {
"lidar_net_info" : { # Mid360 ports, please don't revise these values
"cmd_data_port": 56100, # Mid360 command port
"push_msg_port": 56200,
"point_data_port": 56300,
"imu_data_port": 56400,
"log_data_port": 56500
},
"host_net_info" : {
"cmd_data_ip" : "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"cmd_data_port": 56101,
"push_msg_ip": "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"push_msg_port": 56201,
"point_data_ip": "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"point_data_port": 56301,
"imu_data_ip" : "192.168.1.5", # host ip
"imu_data_port": 56401,
"log_data_ip" : "",
"log_data_port": 56501
}
},
"lidar_configs" : [
{
"ip" : "192.168.1.100", # ip of the HAP you want to config
"pcl_data_type" : 1,
"pattern_mode" : 0,
"blind_spot_set" : 50,
"extrinsic_parameter" : {
"roll": 0.0,
"pitch": 0.0,
"yaw": 0.0,
"x": 0,
"y": 0,
"z": 0
}
},
{
"ip" : "192.168.1.12", # ip of the Mid360 you want to config
"pcl_data_type" : 1,
"pattern_mode" : 0,
"extrinsic_parameter" : {
"roll": 0.0,
"pitch": 0.0,
"yaw": 0.0,
"x": 0,
"y": 0,
"z": 0
}
}
]
}- HAP
- Mid360
- (more types are comming soon...)
Please check the "Global Options - Fixed Frame" field in the RViz "Display" pannel. Set the field value to "livox_frame" and check the "PointCloud2" option in the pannel.
6.2 launch with command "ros2 launch livox_lidar_rviz_HAP_launch.py" but cannot open shared object file "liblivox_sdk_shared.so" ?
Please add '/usr/local/lib' to the env LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
-
If you want to add to current terminal:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:/usr/local/lib
-
If you want to add to current user:
vim ~/.bashrc export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:/usr/local/lib source ~/.bashrc