Week 8 - Solution Part 1 - Using Lidar
This week I completed the following tasks:
- Created a launch file for the exercise
- Created a lidar controller python script
- Tested and debugged the controller
- Created two separate versions of the car: original and lighter (top lidar and front camera only)
Lidar Controller
This ROS 2 Python node subscribes to a LiDAR point cloud topic (/waymo/lidar/points) and publishes velocity commands (/cmd_vel) to control the car. It processes incoming PointCloud2 messages, calculates the minimum distance to obstacles (ignoring vertical height), and adjusts the vehicle’s forward speed accordingly. If an obstacle is detected within a safe distance (4 meters), it reduces speed to 4 m/s, otherwise, it moves at a speed of 40 m/s. The node logs the minimum distance and corresponding speed for debugging and monitoring purposes.
Two versions of the car
Original:
This version has :
- One front camera on bumper
- Two side view cameras
- One 360 degree top lidar
Lighter version:
This version has :
- One front view camera
- One 120 degree top lidar