In mobile robotics, it is very important to know where the obstacles are, the outline of a room, and so on. The 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 Lidar that is widely used in robotics. This sensor is the Hokuyo URG-04lx rangefinder. You can obtain more information in the following link: http://www.hokuyo-aut.jp/. The Hokuyo rangefinder is a device used for navigation and building maps in real time.
In this section, you will learn how to use it using the standard drivers in ROS and how to modify the data.
The model Hokuyo URG-04lx 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-fuerte-laser-drivers
Once installed...