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LidarLite working correctly? - SOLVED

Posted by Felix Meissner on April 28, 2015 at 3:40am

I am trying to set up a LidarLite sensor from PulsedLight.

I set it up according to the wiki (new sensor, manufactured Feb 2015, interfaced with a Pixhawk)

http://copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/common-optional-hardware/common-rangefinder-landingpage/common-rangefinder-lidarlite/

In the wiki it points to the Flight Data Screen to test the sensor,

but I only get zero as reading in this window.

But if I check in the terminal,

I can see that the sensor is working (see attached file),

so is it working ok? Is the wiki wrong?

Thanks a lot,

Felix

Capture.JPG

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Replies

Doug Walmsley May 20, 2015 at 10:08am

Hi All,

Please review my write up for RC4 and LiDAR at Copter-3.3 beta testing. I think there is some useful info I placed there.

Thanks,

Doug Walmsley
DG May 17, 2015 at 7:48pm

Thanks Grant.
DG May 17, 2015 at 7:46pm

Thanks for your replies Grant. I may give it a try.
DG May 17, 2015 at 10:02am

What's the bottom line on using LidarLite?

Is it reliable and accurate (more than baro and GPS)? Altitude drift from the barometer and/or GPS accuracy issues are causing RTL/Land inaccuracies during descent and flying in general. I've seen this on all my copters of late.

Thanks.
- Developer
  
  Grant Morphett > DG May 17, 2015 at 3:10pm
  
  Used in PWM mode yes I believe it is more accurate and better then GPS and baro.
  
  Thanks, Grant.
  - Chris Telford > Grant Morphett May 17, 2015 at 3:15pm
    
    Is there any difference in performance between pwm mode and i2c mode or is it just a question of using whatever works for your setup / hardware version?
    - Distributor
      
      Felix Meissner > Chris Telford May 18, 2015 at 12:01am
      
      There are still various issues with the I2C of the LIDAR-Lite (even with the new models, manufactured after Feb 2015) which is the reason why I would recommend you to use PWM.
      - MR60
        
        Hugues > Felix Meissner May 18, 2015 at 10:42am
        
        Felix, Randy has asked me to make the same test as I did with an arduino using pixhawk and I2C. Unfortunately I have no more pixhawks in stock and am ordering new ones. In the meantime if you have time to make these tests, that would be useful for Randy to troubleshoot.
        
        Distributor
        
        Felix Meissner > Hugues May 18, 2015 at 10:48am
        
        all right - I will try to do the test tomorrow.
        
        But - he would like the LIDAR to be connected via I2C - not PWM?
        
        Cause I didn't manage to get any data in the sonarrange field, using I2C (that was the reason why I started this discussion), due to this I moved to PWM (as well because of the discussion on the internet regarding the I2C of the Lidar still not being safe).
        
        MR60
        
        Hugues > Felix Meissner May 18, 2015 at 11:01am
        
        yes indeed via I2C...