Do STM32-Nucleo boards support intrfacing LIDAR (RPLIDAR, YDLIDAR) modules with embedded ROS? Or do we need to interface the Nucleo MCU board with a SBC like Raspberry Pi to talk to LIDAR?

[ThiruV]

I have a prototyping project to make a wheeled-robot maneuver with LIDAR using SLAM algorithm. So, can I use a Nucleo-board to control a LIDAR device with embedded ROS without the need of a SBC like Raspberry Pi? Please refer to the image attached.

[Pavel A.]

Depends on the value of XX on your picture.

-- pa

[ThiruV]

Hi Pavel, thank you for the quick response. So, what STM32 board is technically feasible for this prototype - Nucleo 32 / 64 / 144 would you advise please?

I understand there are different ranges of boards; but I'm unable to gauge what is the best suitable one to interface RPLIDAR / YDLIDAR sensor with ROS.

Thanks.

[Tesla DeLorean]

What is the method of interface? CMOS Serial would be workable, USB probably more effort than you want.

The Nucleo's will support pretty much whatever functionality you can program.

What does the software you're taking as a starting point require in terms of size/resources.

[ThiruV]

Hi clive1, thank you for the response. the YDLIDAR X4 sensor uses a 3.3v level serial port (UART) to communicate.

So, my question is does STM32 family of MCUs support embedded ROS where I can run generic SLAM algorithms connected to the LIDAR sensor?

Thanks.

[Tesla DeLorean]

You should really be looking at what "Embedded ROS" supports, unless you plan on doing the porting work.

Don't expect to see much support from this forum, it is not focused on robots, or ROS

http://wiki.ros.org/sig/Embedded

The Cortex-M is described as "Small Embedded"

[TDK]

The STM32 can do UART with hardware peripherals. You'd need to implement the SLAM algorithm or whatever else you wanted to do with that information.

Any of the STM32FXXX series chips can handle UART, but I would recommend STM32H743 or similar for the most processing power. Unlikely that you'll care about power consumption here, as the mcu should take a fraction of the power of whatever motors you're using.

ROS = robot operating system? It's better to avoid acronyms unless you know your audience knows what they are. I had to google it. Looks like people have done ROS on STM32 before.

https://github.com/Lembed/ROS-FreeRTOS-STM32

I would expect the STM32H7 or similar is more than capable of what you need, but that you'll have to do a good deal of programming to get it to work, so you'll need to be comfortable with that.