Slamtec RPLIDAR A1 User manual
www.slamtec.com
Shanghai Slamtec.Co.,Ltd
2021-05-20 rev.2.1
CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................... 1
OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................... 3
ITEMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT KIT ....................................................................................................................... 3
RPLIDAR A1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
USB ADAPTER .................................................................................................................................................... 4
CONNECTION AND USAGE ..................................................................................................................... 5
CONNECTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
INSTALL DRIVER FOR THE USB ADAPTER ........................................................................................................... 6
RUN DEMO APPLICATION .................................................................................................................................. 7
TROUBLESHOOTING .......................................................................................................................................... 10
SDK INTRODUCTION AND USAGE ...................................................................................................... 11
RPLIDAR A1 PIN DEFINITION AND SPECIFICATION ....................................................................................... 11
PIN DEFINITION FOR THE USB ADAPTER ......................................................................................................... 12
CONFIGURE RPLIDAR A1 SCAN FREQUENCY ................................................................................................. 13
SDK USAGE ...................................................................................................................................................... 13
OPERATION RECOMMENDATION....................................................................................................... 13
PRE-HEATING FOR BEST PERFORMANCE ......................................................................................................... 14
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE................................................................................................................................... 14
AMBIENT LIGHT ................................................................................................................................................ 14
REVISION HISTORY ................................................................................................................................. 15
APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................................. 16
IMAGE AND TABLE INDEX ................................................................................................................................. 16
Contents
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
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:
o RPLIDAR A1（PWM motor driver embedded）
o USB Adapter
o 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
Overview
USB
Adapter
RPLIDAR
Module
RPLIDAR
communication
cable
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
RPLIDAR A1
Figure 1-2 The RPLIDAR A1
The RPLIDAR A1 development kit contains standard RPLIDAR A1 unit (A1M8-R1).
The RPLIDAR A1 is embedded with 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 purpose.
RPLIDAR A1 usage and interface definition will be introduced in the coming
sections.
USB Adapter
Figure 1-3 RPLIDAR A1 Adapter
RPLIDAR A1 development kit contains a USB adapter to provide power supply for
RPLIDAR A1 and convert RPLIDAR A1 internal UART serial interface to USB
interface.
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
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.
Figure 2-2 Connect the USB Adapter to PC via Micro-USB Cable
Connection and Usage
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
Install Driver for the USB Adapter
The USB adapter converts UART to USB by using 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 correct operating system version accordingly: x86 for 32-
bit OS and x64 for 64-bit OS.
Figure 2-3 Choose USB Adapter Driver for Installation
Figure 2-4 Start Page of USB Adapter Driver Installation
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
After Installing the driver according to the above installation steps, you will see
corresponding serial port name in the [Control Panel] -> [Device and Printers].
Please refer to the below figure.
Figure 2-5 Recognized Serial Port Name Matched with the USB Adapter
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 PC by using USB adapter and
installed the device driver correctly before running the demo application in
RoboStudio. Launch RoboStudio and log in.
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
Figure 2-6 RoboStudio Login Page
If the connection is ok, you shall see the user interface is shown as 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 tool bar in the major work area as shown in Figure 2-
7.
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
Figure 2-7 The Lidar Plugin in RoboStudio
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 showed
in the tool bar. The descriptions are listed in the bellow table.
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.):
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Copyright (c) 2009-2013 RoboPeak Team
Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.
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
the view.
The scan frequency is also showed 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 scenario
happened, please send restart command to reset the scan core.
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