VPL-16 Setup (for Ubuntu 16.04)¶

Getting on the LiDAR on the Network¶

The basic tutorial is here, but you may run into issues like I did. In which case, the following notes may be useful.

First figure out what the devise name is. To show all devices found:

ifconfig -a

Which gives something like (desktop):

febbo@febbo-HP-Z220-SFF-Workstation:~/Documents/workspace/Docs$ ifconfig -a
eno1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr b4:b5:2f:a9:52:61
          inet addr:192.168.1.200  Bcast:0.0.0.0  Mask:255.255.255.255
          inet6 addr: fe80::b6b5:2fff:fea9:5261/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1604067 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:22232 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1722487876 (1.7 GB)  TX bytes:2422647 (2.4 MB)
          Interrupt:20 Memory:f7100000-f7120000

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:89494 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:89494 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1
          RX bytes:145501992 (145.5 MB)  TX bytes:145501992 (145.5 MB)

Warning

Note that the device is eno1, not eth0. Also, on my laptop the device name is enp0s25, so it is different depending on the machine.

Then do (desktop):

sudo ifconfig eno1 up
sudo ip addr add 192.168.1.200 dev eno1
sudo route add -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev eno1

Then do (laptop):

sudo ifconfig enp0s25 up
sudo ip addr add 192.168.1.200 dev enp0s25
sudo route add -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev enp0s25

Next got to: Network -> Options... and click Ethernet Settings

Ethernet Settings¶

Type the LiDAR’s cloned MAC address in the box.

Note

To find the cloned MAC address for the LiDAR; look at the bottom of the device. For me it is:

60:76:88:10:47:F9

Note

Now you can change the name of the network to something, perhaps LiDAR in Edit Connections...
To see information about the connection check out Connection Information.

Testing the LiDAR¶

First clone the Velodyne LiDAR ros package into a catkin_ws:

git clone http://wiki.ros.org/velodyne

To run it:

roslaunch velodyne_pointcloud VLP16_points.launch

To view data run:

rosrun rviz rviz -f velodyne

Then add try adding LaserScan and PointCloud2 and their topics /velodyne_points and /scan, respectively.

If you have trouble these instructions will help you display the data in rviz.

Getting on the Computer back on the Internet¶

Note

If you accidentally deleted the Internet connection or messed it up somehow

On the top right of your screen highlight the Network icon and click Edit Connections. Then click Add add back the Internet with the following steps.

Warning

Make sure that you name the LiDAR connection and the Internet connection.

First go to: Network -> Options...

Ethernet Settings¶

Note

If you are trying to get the Internet back delete the MAC address in the box.

IPv4 Settings¶

Note

If you are trying to get the Internet back, select the Method to be:

Automatic (DHCP)

Network Commands¶

random commands:

route -n