1. Environment Setup

Before starting the environment Settings, it is necessary to install the CP210X serial port driver first. For the installation tutorial, please refer to the PC software usage tutorial. If you use the virtual machine we provide, after installing the driver and connecting the radar to the computer, you can directly execute the fourth step of driving the radar without setting up the environment.

1. Installing the SDK Driver

Based on the specifications of the radar you purchased, locate the compressed file labeled "YDLidar-SDK" in the provided source code package. Extract the YDLidar-SDK folder; this folder contains the SDK files for this radar. Since using the ROS package for this radar requires the SDK to be installed beforehand, the YDLidar-SDK folder contains the radar's driver files. Open a terminal in this folder and type:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j4
sudo make install

If no errors are reported during the process, it means that the driver has been successfully installed.

2. Creating a New Workspace and Compiling the Package

• (Recommended) The first method involves extracting ydlidar_ros2_ws.zip from the source code to your root directory, and then directly using colcon build to compile.

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cd ydlidar_ros2_ws
colcon build

After successful compilation, add the workspace path to your .bashrc file.

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sudo gedit ~/.bashrc

Copy the following content to the end of the file:

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source ~/ydlidar_ros2_ws/devel/setup.bash --extend

• The second method involves creating a self-named workspace. For example, let's say the name is ydlidar_ros2_ws. Enter the following in the terminal:

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mkdir ydlidar_ros2_ws
cd ydlidar_ros2_ws
mkdir src
cd src

Then copy the package files from the unzipped source code directory ydlidar_ros2_ws/src to the ydlidar_ros2_ws/src directory. Then, in the ydlidar_ros2_ws directory, use colcon build to compile.

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cd ydlidar_ros2_ws
colcon build

After successful compilation, add the workspace path to your .bashrc file.

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sudo gedit ~/.bashrc

Copy the following content to the end of the file:

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source ~/ydlidar_ros2_ws/devel/setup.bash --extend

3. Bind the radar port name

Open a terminal in the ydlidar_ros2_ws workspace and enter the following command:

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cd ~/ydlidar_ros2_ws/src/ydlidar_ros2_driver/startup/
sudo sh initenv.sh

Then reconnect the radar serial port and enter ll /dev/ydlidar in the terminal.

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 ll /dev/ydlidar

4. Driving the Radar

Save and exit, then open a new terminal. Enter the following command to activate the radar and display it in rviz. Terminal warnings can be ignored.

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ros2 launch ydlidar_ros2_driver ydlidar_launch_view.py

The radar node data can be viewed through the following command.

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ros2 topic echo /scan