Is LIDAR easy to use for hobbyists? DIY Roomba? Obstacle Avoidance System for Robotics

Get your free Elektor subscription here: www.elektormagazine.com/news/...
Coupon code: GreatScott19!
The LIDAR sensor that was used in the video: www.elektor.com/ydlidar-x4-li...
Previous video: • How to make a Softstar...
Facebook: / greatscottlab
Twitter: / greatscottlab
Support me for more videos: www.patreon.com/GreatScott?ty=h
In this video we will have a closer look at a commercial LIDAR sensor for hobbyists. We will find out how the sensor manages to measure the distance to objects placed all around it and how we can use this data with a computer and an Arduino. At the end I will then create a small robot which uses the LIDAR system to "crudely" navigate through a room. Let's get started!
Thanks to Elektor for sponsoring this video!
Visit www.elektormagazine.com/ to read their magazines and buy electronic components.
Music:
2011 Lookalike by Bartlebeats
Killing Time, Kevin MacLeod
(incompetech.com)

[@greatscottlab]

Small correction: The speed of light is of course 299792 km/s, not 299792 m/s. Sorry.

[@Lutfi6545]

Wow, that was a freaking fast

[@JADES-GS-z13-0]

You never reply to any comment, why?

[@justcallme00oogy]

That's disappointing! I was so excited to shout in the comments and have likes rain on me then I saw this comment 😪

[@JonathanKayne]

Hey what is the name of the song you are playing around 1:38? Its not listed in the video description btw.

[@Sorrentino_Gianni]

#GottaGoFast

[@EtecMax]

This sensor dosent use time of flight (tof) which would be terrible expensive. It measures the angle of the returning lightbeam with a linear ccd. In the description of the sensor they also write triangulation principle.

[@MorRobots]

Yep it is a parallax system, however Y You can actually build a ToF sensor with relatively inexpensive electronics, issue is they're not fast enough for this kind of scan rate.

[@kotqrka]

Actually, there are ready-to-use pretty cheap ToF sensors. VL53L0X by ST for instance.

[@klassichd10]

Exactly. This most probably is the triangulation sensor for vacuum cleaner robots working using triangulation and NOT ToF. There is a paper of 2008 IEEE International Conference onRobotics and AutomationPasadena, CA, USA, May 19-23, 2008; Kurt Konolige, Joseph Augenbraun, Nick Donaldson, Charles Fiebig, and Pankaj Shah: A Low-Cost Laser Distance Sensor. But unfortunately many youtubers are mixing these things up.

[@EtecMax]

@@kotqrka that thing looks interesting. Thoug it doesnt measure very far and only distances in 1D not 2D, but thats only a matter of time. It is a while since i looked into the 2D sensors and they are still to expensive for my purposes, maybe sensors like this could push the price down even more

[@minikindaniil99]

well, using latest stm32g4 that has timer with resolution around 180ps it's possible to build tof sensor with res around 60mm

[@francescovalle8678]

How amazing is the communication between the main board and the part that rotate... Fantastic

[@yasyasmarangoz3577]

ok

[@mrfrozen97-despicable]

Lifi

[@OskarP2601]

Agreed

[@amremam8937]

This was used in VCRs, it's even more elegant in VCRs, as the rotary transformer used to transfer both data and power And the motor is brushless motor that can run for years without the need to replace brushes

[@phat.phan1]

OMG OMG I was looking for this for so long and finally Scott talk about it.

[@pmgodfrey]

Man, you just get a thumbs up for being awesome...and we haven't even covered how smart you are. I'm always impressed by your videos and I've learned so much. Thanks for taking the time to create them.

[@IchMagandMeGusta]

"Terrible at writing code" "Limited success" You and I have very different definitions of "terrible at writing code" haha!

[@AmeshaSpentaArmaiti]

You don't get better if you like your own work! crippling self-doubt is where talent is born.

[@simontay4851]

He's really good in my opinion. I wouldn't know where to start with writing code. Im a hardware person.

[@thewhitedragon4184]

@@simontay4851 Start by stealing other people's code. Meaning use libraries that do the job you need

[@AndersJackson]

Have you seen his code?

[@steve00alt70]

Python

[@mrexplosive2437]

This is exactly what I’ve needed for my projects thanks scott

[@SleepyCod467]

THIS IS VERY COOL. Thanks for making all these interesting videos. I wanted to make one of these myself, this is some good motivation! Keep up the great work

[@alptekintanatar3350]

Thanks a lot for the 1 year elektor subscription I am gonna keep it brief so, many thanks... :)

[@fazlurrahman4278]

Great video as always! To use the Lidar in an easier way, you can use Robotic Operating System (ROS) to handle the data and do the make a program to control it. However, learning how to use ROS is one thing, but once you know it, it's really helpful!

[@R3MIXMODZ]

Wow this is one of my favorite videos! You did a fantastic job explaining. Thank you!

[@KingJellyfishII]

The "stay creative, and I will see you next time!" has been getting slowly more enthusiastic as time goes on.

[@dreggory82]

I've noticed the same thing.

[@elephant3109]

crazy, rihgt?

[@KingJellyfishII]

@@justgame5508 yes that may be true. It's just an observation I made.

[@jarboer]

Omg the fact you posted this video after the fact I was think it would be cool to try to make a lawnmower that’s self driving kinda like a roomba, I crazy it’s like you read my mind! Awesome video by the way!

[@webhooktips]

Thanks again for lighting up our world in regards to electronics....huge fan 🤗🤗🤗

[@sindotj]

The only electronics channel to spend time that worth every single second....

[@zfrenchy1716]

Elektor is awesome, got that since 80's

[@jonasrullo2590]

Mahalo. Always great detail. I can't wait to read the magazine.

[@_MisterG]

Thank you (and Elektor) for the subscription

[@Y100001]

Excellent presentation, audio & visual.

[@Pit.Gutzmann]

This was very instructive. Thank you!

[@metalworker3]

Awesome! Perfect timing!

[@yinanliu6700]

so many thanks to bring this innovative electronic component to me!!

[@sarfarazsheikh5448]

One's again thank you for useful information about electronics

[@lanreakerele4375]

Great video! I have learnt something new from you

[@Sekhar_Home]

I watched within few minute but the total viewer at that time reached 5k.. it shows how much popular is ur channel... Keep doing and stay creative.,😀😀

[@marcellosdmf]

Os melhores vídeos de eletrônica!!! I'm great fã yours Scott

[@gflaig9131]

0:08 very nice drawing. Your schematics and explanations are awesome.

[@window.location]

First robot on scott channel We love to see this type videos in future

[@pranalisarpotdar8203]

S

[@aasaialangaram6847]

Good Video by GreatScott.

[@stzo1]

Thank you for one more very interesting video and also for the elektor gift!

[@Dipranjan_Dihingia]

Wow it's amazing

[@ryanmckenna2047]

Great video man!

[@siddiqjr4660]

As Always Great I love it thought i found this video a bit too late

[@funkimunky1]

Thank you for the elektor code GreatScott. I love elektor but getting access for free is fantastic.

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

Yeah. A full year is amazing.

[@AmplifierWorld]

This is new subject for me and I learn lots of from your channel and in the ending of your video when you say stray creative and see you next time. so goooood

[@ScitiveX]

LIDAR great - I was waiting for this video

[@electronic7979]

Very nice project 👍 I like it

[@gamereditor59ner22]

Nice video and keep it up!!

[@fernando.v]

Thanks for the subscription to elektor

[@emorag]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@StaticVapour590]

Very interesting to see how it works

[@erygion]

Another great video! Thank you. I always learn and thumbs up 😊

[@over00lordunknown12]

I’m glad you showed how the data and power is handled, I’m always interested in how that is done inside devices where it spins more then 360 degrees. (In this case it was LEDs for data and coils for wireless power)

[@foobarmaximus3506]

When it goes past 360 degrees, it creates a tiny worm-hole that objects can pass through and arrive in another part of the Galaxy. It doesn't have enough power to transport outside that range at present, but they are working on it.

[@foysalmahmud3814]

Bro you are a legend..!!

[@PeterDempsey-yarglags]

Thanks for the subscription code. I'm signed up and ready to get my electronics fix. 🤓

[@evananderson8452]

Great Job your little machine

[@maciekgucma4756]

Great Scott! Good job. I used large lidars and this one seems so similar! But smaller.

[@raytest01]

Yep, I don't think this module using ToF to sensing the distance, because it require a Time-to-Digital converter(TDC) in the system usually it require a addition IC or FPGA, a counting based TDC can be implemented in STM32 but the resolution can not be promising. So this module seems to measure the phase difference instead of the time difference.

[@PixlRainbow]

The datasheet does actually say that this modules does use triangulation with a low resolution infrared camera sensor However, some versions of STM32 microcontrollers have programmable DSPs onboard that are powerful enough to render 3D graphics or do radio communication

[@raytest01]

@@PixlRainbow Great to know that, thanks for the information.

[@jeanyluisa8483]

Makes sense. I already wondered how an STM32 can be fast enough to measure the distance by the travelling time of light. That's fragments of nanoseconds for short distances in a room.

[@CuddleStories]

Great video!

[@bonafide9085]

XKT-412 is a voltage controlled oscillator. I have used this in my wireless POV display project to make an LC oscillator.

[@YukonK9]

Maybe convert the LIDAR robot as your garage's security guard bot?

[@UNITEDHVACSYSTEMS]

Great innovative ideas generate after watching ur videos and can understand the theory which we learnt in schooling

[@estudiantecomputerscience]

great work!!!

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting project!!! 😃

[@wannerke]

Thanks Scott for the free magazine! No credit card needed! 👍👍

[@qvatch]

it may be the first in-video ad I've made use of. Short, backed by GreatScotts long term interest, no risk trial. Very nice.

[@bethisway]

Yo this was amazing

[@bernardborg5890]

Keep up the good work and thanks :)

[@andreib302]

Haha the robot turned out so cool. Great work.

[@fujihita2500]

Tfw I never realized power supply and communication would be a problem for a spinning sensor. My first solution would be running a separate battery on the spinning part and using RF for the communication but damn...wireless charging coils? That's some brilliant stuff right there! Thanks for the upload. I learned a lot.

[@shubhamchavan22]

Very nice video sir

[@TechsScience]

I had to know how it transfers data through spinning disk you explained it nicely 🙂

[@FreeCircuitLab]

Really you are awesome!

[@agrxdrowflow958]

Brilliant!

[@Diamonddrake]

You can run any Arduino at 3.3v and it will just work. Also you can take 3.3v as a digital high in a 5v system and use a voltage divider or zener shunt to output the 3.3. I know Scott knows this, but sometimes his individual choices come out sounding like what he “had to do” instead of what he “happened to do” this post is for the “I already have an Arduino why can’t I use that one” crowd. To which the answer is you can. Just don’t push 5v into the lidar without checking the data sheet for tolerance.

[@foobarmaximus3506]

Yeah, you would think everyone would know this if they have an interest in robotics and electronics. Folks need to pick up a textbook every now and then. Couldn't hurt.

[@NicolasP1973]

An other Great Video and an awesome offre!

[@MrTheAgge]

Great content!

[@daydreaminginventor-k8957]

you are great， indeed

[@nauraizsubhan01]

thank you sir

[@luxolfmh]

Great video. It's not that big of your fault. Those cheap robot kits come with cheap motors as well (the yellow ones) the main inconvenient is that they spin at different speed even they receive the same PWM because they are not identical. In a project we made, we tried to control them with a PID using a MPU5060 gyroscope, and a Ultrasonic sensor to prevent for crashing into the walls. The PID was a fail. Hope you could succeed. Excellent video. Greetings from Ecuador. Also try tu use a L298 driver for the motors they are a big help.

[@sneakyg1250]

awesome, a couple of years ago i was looking for a lidar but couldnt find any good cheap options !

[@americanrebel413]

AWESOME!

[@rpavlik1]

It's always cool when a sensor uses a more powerful chip as a coprocessor (stm32f302 iirc?) than your main system controller (poor little atmega328p...). Though, I suppose such a topology would make good sense if the coprocessor was only needed intermittently and could be put in power save most of the time. A little surprised they have so much rotating mass on that unit, I figured the only thing to rotate would be a mirror.

[@TeddyGun300]

Super awesome video!! Keep up the good work. I wouldn't mind if there would be a follow up video

[@vinna2k884]

Waited... For along luv uuuu😘😘😘

[@wz3xn9os3s]

Nice video

[@vacationgreat5095]

Awesome.

[@Chris__K]

Interesting 👍 What about a DIY or BUY episode about LIDAR-Sensors?

[@itaco8066]

Awesome

[@lifeselectronic]

Very interesting Keep going :)

[@crapcopter]

I might upgrade my old roomba with this

[@tomaberisha5688]

Nice.

[@xusuf5570vfghgfhhgjh]

perfect

[@jornguatu5315]

Good vid!

[@StevenLVE9SY]

Very Intersting

[@MorRobots]

I'm almost dead nuts positive that's a parallax sensor, not ToF.

[@nguyentrongvan9647]

Verrrrrrrrrry nice Video

[@CABohol]

Nice

[@funy0n583]

where has this video been my whole life

[@kaetir]

I was working with lidar and arduino It's not that hard. There is some few library over internet to help. If you realy have some problem with programming it doesn't help but trust me, for some student project lidar is a very good investment

[@TheSansui123]

Felt like I had a stroke reading that

[@jashmota5054]

Can you name some libraries to get started? Thanks

[@Okayler1337]

Im also interested in the libraries :)

[@SlavTiger]

I like that the errors have typos

[@vishwashehan8441]

thank you for the coupon

[@MkmeOrg]

Always wanted to give LIDAR a try. Great video and thanks!

[@electronicscaos]

I used to love Elektor since I was a kid, every month I bought it, from my 9's to my 14's, when I started working in industry and finally got a way to subscribe and receive it every month at home. It really was the best electronics magazine in Brazil, until it fooled around every subscriber, simply disappearing, no phone to ask to refund (I subscribed for annual payment), just there they was in one month and gone in the next. I feel it as one of the most disappointing experiences of my life, since I loved all of their contents. Well, I started importing the magazines from another countries once in a while, to tell you how good their contents are, but I'll never forget how they fooled brazilians.

[@AK90]

"YDLIDAR get Scandata fialed!!" lol Nice typo in the source code :P

[@gautier1887]

congrats

[@dvsujan1148]

Finally your sponsor has changed after a long time

[@y__h]

I wonder whether the last one gave him a hard time.

[@clonkex]

In all likelihood it's only for this video.

[@hannessetterwall7373]

I would love to see more how they use wireless power transfer, what are the losses, would it be possible to use dual power transfer and get sphere lidar?

[@apostolosgeorgiadis3670]

Your next video should be... Robot vaccum cleaner diy or buy. You are a great T E A C H E R!

[@bartoszcelmer]

In case You have 3V3 uart device and 5V version Arduino it also works nice if You attach to [Arduino RX]-[3V3 TX] ( most atmegas takes 2V7 and up as high, so 3V3 is OK ) and simple voltage divider ( from two resistors ) to Arduino TX to lower output :) Any way I like Your channel very much! All best!

[@christophbeer3417]

You really should try to make a robot with the RPI and ROS (robot operating system). The lidar has some really nice packages you can use. Keep in mind the RPI should only be used as a data publisher to a real computer.

[@fiix7026]

ROS for hobbyists? I don't deny its capabl, butis it easy enough to learn? What about budget?how much for the whole system? Hobbyist servos ore closed loop servos?