FPGA-based Architecture for a Low-Cost 3D Lidar Design and Implementation from Multiple Rotating 2D Lidars with ROS
: Jorge Peña Queralta, Fu Yuhong, Lassi Salomaa, Li Qingqing, Tuan Nguyen Gia, Zhuo Zou, Hannu Tenhunen, Tomi Westerlund
: N/A
: IEEE Sensors
: 2019
: Proceedings of IEEE Sensors
: 2019 IEEE Sensors
: 978-1-7281-1635-8
: 1930-0395
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORS43011.2019.8956928(external)
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/44410373(external)
Three-dimensional representations and maps are the key behind self-driving vehicles and many types of advanced autonomous robots. Localization and mapping algorithms can achieve much higher levels of accuracy with dense 3D point clouds. However, the cost of a multiple-channel three-dimensional lidar with a 360 degrees field of view is at least ten times the cost of an equivalent single-channel two-dimensional lidar. Therefore, while 3D lidars have become an essential component of self-driving vehicles, their cost has limited their integration and penetration within smaller robots. We present an FPGA-based 3D lidar built with multiple inexpensive RPLidar A1 2D lidars, which are rotated via a servo motor and their signals combined with an FPGA board. A C++ package for the Robot Operating System (ROS) has been written, which publishes a 3D point cloud. The mapping of points from the two-dimensional lidar output to the three-dimensional point cloud is done at the FPGA level, as well as continuous calibration of the motor speed and lidar orientation based on a built-in landmark recognition. This inexpensive design opens a wider range of possibilities for lower-end and smaller autonomous robots, which can be able to produce three-dimensional world representations. We demonstrate the possibilities of our design by mapping different environments.