SLAMTEC AIM8 Rplidar A1 Low Cost 360 Degree Laser Range Scanner User Manual

Rplidar A1
Low Cost 360 Degree Laser
Range Scanner User Manual
**Model: A1MB

**

Overview

RPLIDAR A1 development kit includes the matched tools used for evaluating RPLIDAR A1’s performance and initial development. After connecting the RPLIDAR A1 with PC via USB cable and adapter, Users can observe the cloud map of the environment scanning point collected by the RPLIDAR A1 and start development based on the SDK.
Items in the Development Kit
RPLIDAR A1 Development Kit contains:

• RPLIDAR A1（PWM motor driver embedded）
• USB Adapter
• RPLIDAR A1 communication cable
  Note: The Micro-USB cable needs to be prepared by users.

Figure 1-1 Items in the RPLIDAR A1 Development Kit

RPLIDAR A1

The RPLIDAR A1 development kit contains a standard RPLIDAR A1 unit (A1M8-R1). The RPLIDAR A1 is embedded with a logic IO drivable(3.3v) motor controller which
can be used to configure the scan frequency by tuning motor speed. Developers can also choose to turn off the motor for power-saving purposes.
RPLIDAR A1 usage and interface definition will be introduced in the coming sections.

USB Adapter

RPLIDAR A1 development kit contains a USB adapter to provide a power supply for RPLIDAR A1 and convert RPLIDAR A1 internal UART serial interface to USB interface.

Connection and Usage

Connection
RPLIDAR A1 can be easily connected to PC according to the following steps.

1. Connect RPLIDAR A1 with the USB adapter using provided communication cable. The socket is in the bottom of RPLIDAR A1.
   Figure 2-1 Connect RPLIDAR A1 and USB Adapter

2. Connect the USB adapter to your PC using the Micro-USB cable. After connecting RPLIDAR A1 to your PC through the USB cable, the LED in the bottom of the  RPLIDAR A1 will light up and RPLIDAR A1 start scanning.

Install Driver for the USB Adapter
The USB adapter converts UART to USB by using a CP2102 chip. You need to install the device driver for the chip. The driver can be found in the provided SDK package or downloaded from Silicon Labs’ official website: http://www.silabs.com/products/interface/usb-bridges/Pages/usb-bridges.aspx Here’s the installation steps in Windows:
After connecting the RPLIDAR A1 with PC, please find the driver file “CP210x VCP Windows” and choose the correct operating system version accordingly: x86 for 32bit OS and x64 for 64-bit OS.
After Installing the driver according to the above installation steps, you will see the corresponding serial port name in the [Control Panel] -> [Device and Printers]. Please refer to the below figure.
Run Demo Application
SLAMTEC provides a Lidars plugin in RoboStudio for users in test and evaluation. You can view the scan result directly in the UI and save the scan result to files for further processing. This GUI demo can only run under Windows. For Linux and macOS users, please refer to the other simple demo provided in the SDK. Please make sure you have connected RPLIDAR to the PC by using a USB adapter and installing the device driver correctly before running the demo application in RoboStudio. Launch RoboStudio and log in.
If the connection is ok, you shall see the user interface below.

1. Click File->Lidars to open the lidar control panel in the left;
2. Click Serial Ports to extend the lidar lists and you’ll find the RPLIDAR A1 previously connected to your PC;
3. Click the RPLIDAR A1 icon to extend the tool buttons below the icon: the left one is to adjust the motor speed(RPLIDAR A1 is not adjustable by default.) while the right one is to open the toolbar in the major work area as shown in Figure 2-7. The serial number, version, and model of the RPLIDAR A1 will show next with its icon in the lidar control panel. The supported commands of RPLIDAR are shown in the toolbar. The descriptions are listed in the bellow table.

environments
| Adjust Motor Speed| Adjust the motor speed as required

Figure 2-8 The Supported Commands of RPLIDAR in RoboStudio

Press the Start Scan button the scan data will be displayed as below(by default, the motor rotating speed should be about 8Hz.): Figure 2-9 The Scan Outline by RPLIDAR in RoboStudio

Right-click in the major working area to choose a range so as to zoom in or out of the view. The scan frequency is also shown in the above interface.

Troubleshooting

When the scan core or the laser power works abnormally, the scan core will enter protection mode. This state can be retrieved via SDK API. If such a scenario happened, please send a restart command to reset the scan core.

SDK Introduction and Usage

RPLIDAR A1 Pin Definition and Specification
In the development kit, the bottom motor interface and core interface of the RPLIDAR A1 module use PH1.25-3P and PH1.25-4P vertical mounts respectively. Users can use a cable connection with 1.25mm-pitch 3pin and 1.25mm-pitch 4pin terminals. Please find the detailed pin definition in the bellow table:

The external system must provide the required VMOTO and V5.0 power to make the scan motor and scan core work correctly. In most scenarios, VMOTO and V5.0 can share the same power supply.

MOTOCTL Pin used to control scan motor speed to adjust RPLIDAR A1’s scan frequency, PWM signal also can be applied. The equivalent circuit showed as bellow:

Pin Definition for the USB Adapter
The USB adapter uses a 1.25mm pitch 7pin socket and is connected to the RPLIDAR A1 module through a communication cable:

Operation Recommendation

Figure 3-4 RPLIDAR Al USB Adapter Pin Definition

Configure RPLIDAR A1 Scan Frequency

Since the USB adapter’s control signal MOTOCTL is fixed to a high level, RPLIDAR A1’s scan motor is always rotating at its highest speed which makes RPLIDAR A1 work on a relatively high scan frequency. You can configure RPLIDAR A1’s scan frequency by controlling motor speed.
By connecting the MOTOCTL signal to the device has PWM output function such as MCU’s PWM output I/O port, RPLIDAR A1’s scan frequency can be locked in a proper value by adjusting the duty ratio of PWM using the scan frequency feedback provided by RPLIDAR A1 core.
Please refer to the RPLIDAR A1 protocol and application note for more information. SDK also contains the sample code.
SDK Usage
SLAMTEC provides RPLIDAR A1 SDK support on both Windows and Linux platforms. And users can be the SDK source code to other operating systems or embedded systems quickly. Please refer to the SDK documentation for more information.
Pre-Heating for Best Performance
The scan core will be heating when starts working. We recommend pre-heating RPLIDAR A1 (Start the scan mode and the scan motor is rotating) for more than 2 minutes to get the best measurement accuracy.
Ambient Temperature
RPLIDAR A1’s measurement resolution is sensitive to the ambient temperature. Improper use may even damage the sensor. Please avoid using RPLIDAR A1 in extremely high temperatures (>40 degrees) and too low temperatures (<-10 degrees).
Ambient Light
Although RPLIDAR A1 is not sensitive to ambient light, improper use may still lead to errors. In an indoor environment, please avoid lighting RPLIDAR A1 with a strong light source such as a high-power laser.
In an outdoor environment, please avoid facing RPLIDAR A1 directly to sunlight. This may lead to permanent damage to the image sensor of RPLIDAR A1 and make the measurement invalid
The standard version of RPLIDAR A1 may have less measurement range in the environment with strong sunlight.

Revision History

definition; change the evaluation software to Robostudio
  2021-05-20| Amend the first paragraph on page 11 about the lidar pin model. Corrected the connector model of the USB adapter on page 12.

Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.

References

• 召陵娱乐场

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