Published September 30, 2024

LIDAR 3D point cloud scanner

LIDAR 3D scanner provide the 3D point cloud using ASCII format. It's possible to measure, review in CAD software, distance and area.

AdvancedWork in progress553

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Garmin Lidar-lite v3HP

Arduino UNO

Stepper Motor, Mini Step

Driver DRV8825 for Stepper Motors for Theremino System

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Soldering Station, 110 V

Story

This project is amateur implementation of TLS – Terrestial Laser Scanning. Base on Garmin LIDAR-Lite v3HP module and ATMEGA (Arduino) microcontroller I build 3D scanner which transmit data using UART interface to a computer in ASCII format point XYZ. Coordinates are stored in centimeters.

The range of the scanner is up to 40 meters. Detector can measure distance up to 40 meters with accuracy 2 centimeters.

Some construction elements were printed on 3D printer. The elements were design and put together in FreeCAD then printed separately.

It's possible to import the point cloud to the applications like CloudCompare and AutoCAD or FreeCAD and measure distance. On the picture is measured the height of the tree (wrong units are used by FreeCAD - should be cm instead of mm).

In CloudCompare it's possible to "fly" through the point cloud

1 / 2

Arduino IDE

#include <stdint.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include <LIDARLite_v3HP.h>

#define FAST_I2C

LIDARLite_v3HP myLidarLite;

const float angleResolution = 0.9;
const int dirVerticalPin = 2;
const int stepVeritcalPin = 3;
const int dirHorizontalPin = 8;
const int stepHorizontalPin = 9;
const int stepsPerRevolution = 400;
float h_angle = 1;
float v_angle = 0;


void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  // Declare pins as Outputs
  pinMode(stepVeritcalPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dirVerticalPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(stepHorizontalPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dirHorizontalPin, OUTPUT);
  //Set motor direction clockwise
  digitalWrite(dirVerticalPin, LOW);
  digitalWrite(dirHorizontalPin, HIGH);
  Wire.begin();
  myLidarLite.configure(4);
}


void loop() {
  Serial.println('e');
  while (1) {

    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
      if ((uint8_t)Serial.read() == 'e') {
        lidar();
      }
    }
  }


  exit(0);
}
void lidar() {
  delay(2000);
  uint16_t newDistance;

  for (int h = 0; h < 200; h++) {

    for (int v = 0; v < stepsPerRevolution; v++) {
      float cord_x, cord_y, cord_z;

     if (v < 175 || v > 225) {
        myLidarLite.waitForBusy();
        myLidarLite.takeRange();
        myLidarLite.waitForBusy();
        newDistance = myLidarLite.readDistance();
     
      if (newDistance > 30) {
        cord_x = newDistance * sin(((v_angle * 1000) / 57296)) * cos(((h_angle * 1000) / 57296));
        cord_y = newDistance * sin(((v_angle * 1000) / 57296)) * sin(((h_angle * 1000) / 57296));
        cord_z = newDistance * cos(((v_angle * 1000) / 57296));

        Serial.print(cord_x);
        Serial.print(" ");
        Serial.print(cord_y);
        Serial.print(" ");
        Serial.println(cord_z);
      }
     }
      v_angle = angleResolution * v;
      digitalWrite(stepVeritcalPin, HIGH);
      delayMicroseconds(500);
      digitalWrite(stepVeritcalPin, LOW);
      delayMicroseconds(500);
    }

    digitalWrite(stepHorizontalPin, HIGH);
    delayMicroseconds(1000);
    digitalWrite(stepHorizontalPin, LOW);
    delayMicroseconds(1000);
    h_angle = angleResolution * h;
  }
  Serial.println('s');
}