I am writing a ROS2 GoPiGo3 robot distance reading publisher for a VL53L0X TimeOfFlight Infrared Laser Distance Sensor. I need to select what to publish for msg_range.max_range and msg_range.field_of_view.
The spec sheet claims the beam width is 25 degrees and typical max range is 70-80 cm Grey, 120-200+ cm white target.
The measured beam width for my sensor is 15 degrees (at 90cm) and measured max_range is about 135cm for an obstacle, and 189cm for a wall (full beam width obstacle). After these ranges, the sensor returns a value of 300cm.
What should I publish for max_range, and field_of_view?
Great question @cyclicalobsessive. To be honest so far I’ve just used the defaults in the book’s files - it’s only now that I’m starting to tweak my navigation.
/K
That is certainly safest. The book doesn’t even set the Range msg field of view. I’m guessing no one actually tries to use the distance sensor to build an occupancy grid, when the LIDAR will do such a good job.
Eventually, I might experiment with a “Poor GoPiGo3 Slow LIDAR” from the distance sensor and servo kit. The cost would be half that of the X4 LIDAR, and the battery load should be considerably less. The point cloud, (I’m assuming that is what it should publish), would be very sparse and only cover the front 160 degrees out 1 to 2 meters. (The hidden agenda would be to add ROS to Carl’s existing feature set, without modifying his body )
This is probably a crazy idea, but in my effort to create a generic ros2-gopigo3-node I don’t want to miss important parameters.