ros-raspbot-v2/lidar/README.md

RPLIDAR A1 — LIDAR Container

ROS 2 container for the Slamtec RPLIDAR A1, using the upstream sllidar_ros2 driver cloned at build time.

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Architecture

                        ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
                        │  sllidar_ros2 (rplidar_node)         │
                        │                                      │
                        │  serial 115200 baud                  │
                        │  angle_compensate = true             │
                        │         ▼                            │
                        │   /dev/ttyUSB0 ──────> RPLIDAR A1   │
                        │                                      │
 /scan          <───────│  LaserScan @ ~10 Hz                  │
 (sensor_msgs/          │  360° scan, range 0.15–12 m          │
  LaserScan)            │                                      │
                        └──────────────────────────────────────┘

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How the build works

The Dockerfile clones the upstream driver from GitHub at build time:

git clone https://github.com/Slamtec/sllidar_ros2.git
colcon build --packages-select sllidar_ros2

To pin to a specific branch or tag, pass SLLIDAR_REF as a build arg:

docker compose build --build-arg SLLIDAR_REF=v2.0.0 lidar

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Published topics

Topic	Type	Description
/scan	sensor_msgs/LaserScan	360° laser scan

Device

The RPLIDAR A1 connects via USB serial at /dev/ttyUSB0 (default), 115200 baud. The container receives access to that device via the devices mapping in docker-compose.yml. To use a different port, set LIDAR_PORT in your .env file:

LIDAR_PORT=/dev/ttyUSB1