We can interface different ranges of laser scanners in ROS. One of the popular laser scanner available in the market is Hokuyo Laser scanner (http://www.robotshop.com/en/hokuyo-utm-03lx-laser-scanning-rangefinder.html).
Figure 14: Different series of Hokuyo laser scanner
One of the commonly used Hokuyo laser scanner models is UTM-30LX. This sensor is fast and accurate, suitable for robotic applications. The device has USB 2.0 interface for communication, and has up to 30 meter range with millimeter resolution. The arc range of the scan is about 270 degrees.
Figure 15 : Hokuyo UTM-30LX
There is already a driver available in ROS for interfacing these scanners. One of the interfaces is called hokuyo_node (http://wiki.ros.org/hokuyo_node).
We can install this package using the following command:
In Jade:
$ sudo apt-get install ros-jade-hokuyo-nodeIn Indigo:
$ sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-hokuyo-node
When the device connects to the Ubuntu system, it will create a...
