Livox ROS Driver 2

Livox ROS Driver 2

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.

1. Preparation

1.1 OS requirements

• 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

1.2 Install ROS & ROS2

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.

2. Build & Run Livox ROS Driver 2

2.1 Clone Livox ROS Driver 2 source code:

git clone https://github.com/Livox-SDK/livox_ros_driver2.git ws_livox/src/livox_ros_driver2

Note :

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.

2.2 Build & install the Livox-SDK2

Note :

Please follow the guidance of installation in the Livox-SDK2/README.md

2.3 Build the Livox ROS Driver 2:

For ROS (take Noetic as an example):

source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.sh
./build.sh ROS1

For ROS2 Foxy:

source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.sh
./build.sh ROS2

For ROS2 Humble:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.sh
./build.sh humble

2.4 Run Livox ROS Driver 2:

For ROS:

source ../../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.launch

For ROS2:

source ../../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.py

3. Launch file and livox_ros_driver2 internal parameter configuration instructions

3.1 Launch file configuration instructions

Launch 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

3.2 Livox ros driver 2 internal main parameter configuration instructions

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 :

1. 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 point

Note :

The number of points in the frame may be different, but each point provides a timestamp.

1. 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 data

    Customized 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

1. 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.

4. LiDAR config

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.

1. 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

1. 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
      }
    }
  ]
}

5. Supported LiDAR list

• HAP
• Mid360
• (more types are comming soon...)

6. FAQ

6.1 launch with "livox_lidar_rviz_HAP.launch" but no point cloud display on the grid?

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