Using a laser rangefinder – Hokuyo URG-04lx

In mobile robotics, it is very important to know where the obstacles are, the outline of a room, and so on. Robots use maps to navigate and move across unknown spaces. The sensor used for these purposes is LIDAR. This sensor is used to measure distances between the robot and objects.

In this section, you will learn how to use a low-cost version of LIDAR that is widely used in robotics. This sensor is the Hokuyo URG-04lx rangefinder. You can obtain more information about it at http://www.hokuyo-aut.jp/. The Hokuyo rangefinder is a device used to navigate and build maps in real time:

The Hokuyo URG-04lx model is a low-cost rangefinder commonly used in robotics. It has a very good resolution and is very easy to use. To start with, we are going to install the drivers for the laser:

$ sudo apt-get install ros-hydro-hokuyo-node
$ rosstack profile && rospack profile

Once installed, we are going to check whether everything is OK. Connect your...