LiDAR simulation

Preliminaries

• Ubuntu 22.04
• ROS 2 Humble
• Gazebo Harmonic

YouTube Video

How to use

Clone and build

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-actuator-msgs ros-humble-gps-msgs ros-humble-vision-msgs

export GZ_VERSION=harmonic

mkdir -p ~/ws_lidar/src
cd ~/ws_lidar/src

# Download needed software
git clone https://github.com/gazebosim/ros_gz.git -b humble
cd ~/ws_lidar
rosdep install -r --from-paths src -i -y --rosdistro humble

# Build and install into workspace
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
cd ~/ws_lidar
export GZ_VERSION=harmonic && colcon build --symlink-install

Bridge gz gpu_lidar to ROS 2

cd ~/ws_lidar/src
git clone https://github.com/ku-gcl/lidar_sim_pkg
cd ~/ws_lidar
export GZ_VERSION=harmonic && colcon build --symlink-install

Run

echo "source /opt/ros/${ROS_DISTRO}/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "source ~/ws_lidar/install/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Then, run your gazebo simulation. After run gazebo simulation, execute command below

simulation

ros2 launch lidar_sim_pkg car_simulation.launch.py

Useful command

gz topic -t /lidar/points --info

ros2 run ros_gz_bridge parameter_bridge /lidar/points@sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2@gz.msgs.PointCloudPacked

Livox Mid-360 Specs

#	Item	Value
1	Model	MID-360
2	Laser Wavelength	905 nm
3	Laser Safety	Class 1 (IEC 60825-1:2014)
4	Detection Range (@100 klx)	40 m @ 10% reflectivity / 70 m @ 80% reflectivity
5	Close Proximity Blind Zone	0.1 m
6	Field of View (FOV)	Horizontal 360° / Vertical −7° to +52° (59° total)
7	Range Precision (1σ)	≤ 2 cm (@10 m) / ≤ 3 cm (@0.2 m)
8	Angular Precision (1σ)	< 0.15°
9	Point Rate	200,000 points/s (first return)
10	Frame Rate	10 Hz (typical)
11	Data Port	100BASE-TX Ethernet
12	Time Sync	IEEE 1588-2008 (PTPv2), GPS
13	Anti-Interference Function	Available
14	False Alarm Rate (@100 klx)	< 0.01%
15	IMU	Built-in ICM40609
16	Operating Temperature	−20°C to 55°C (−4°F to 131°F)
17	IP Rating	IP67
18	Power (avg.)	6.5 W (may peak to ~14 W in self-heating mode at low temp)
19	Power Supply Voltage	9–27 V DC
20	Dimensions	65 × 65 × 60 mm
21	Weight	265 g

You can configure the LiDAR by editing worlds/sensor_tutorial.sdf. Below are the key LiDAR settings. Adjust to match your device.

• update_rate
• horizontal.samples
• horizontal.min_angle
• horizontal.max_angle
• vertical.samples
• vertical.min_angle
• vertical.max_angle
• range.min
• range.max

Note

The real Livox Mid-360 uses a non-reptitive scanning pattern that fills its FOV over time rather than a fixed grid per frame. For simplify in this simulation, we approximate it with a uniform grid: 2000 horizontal samples x 10 vertical samples at update_rate = 10 Hz, which yields ≈200,000 points/s.

<sensor name='gpu_lidar' type='gpu_lidar'>
    <pose relative_to='lidar_frame'>0 0 0.2 0 0 0</pose>
    <topic>lidar</topic>
    <update_rate>10</update_rate>
    <ray>
        <scan>
            <horizontal>
                <samples>2000</samples>
                <resolution>1</resolution>
                <min_angle>-3.1415926536</min_angle>
                <max_angle> 3.1415926536</max_angle>
            </horizontal>

            <vertical>
                <samples>10</samples>
                <resolution>1</resolution>
                <min_angle>-0.122173048</min_angle>
                <max_angle> 0.907571211</max_angle>
            </vertical>
        </scan>

        <range>
            <min>0.10</min>
            <max>10.0</max>
            <resolution>0.01</resolution>
        </range>
        <noise>
            <type>gaussian</type>
            <mean>0.0</mean>
            <stddev>0.02</stddev>
        </noise>
    </ray>
    <always_on>1</always_on>
    <visualize>true</visualize>
</sensor>

Reference

Gazebo

• Gazebo sensors tutorial
• Gazebo sensors tutorial code
• ros_gz

Livox Mid-360

• Livox Mid-360 Specs