ranger
[Interface specifications]

A range sensor. More...



#define PLAYER_RANGER_DATA_RANGE   1
 Data subtype: range scan.

Detailed Description

A range sensor.

Receive data from a range sensor, such as a laser scanner, sonar array or IR array.

This interface is designed for sensors that return a single set of values, such as a planar laser scanner, or for arrays of sensors that each produce a single value, such as an array (possibly multi-dimensional) of sonar devices or infra- red sensors. If you are implementing a driver for a sensor such as a complex laser scanner that returns multiple sets of values with each scan, you should either provide one ranger device per value set, using the same timestamp in each to allow synchronisation, or provide a pointcloud3d device.

The ranges and intensities arrays are implemented based on these principles. This means that if the sensor is made up of a single element (e.g. a laser scanner) then all the range readings originate at a single point and only the sensor's global pose matters. If the sensor is made up of multiple elements (e.g. an array of sonar sensors) then the element_poses array should contain one pose per sensor, and the range readings each originate from one pose, in the same order. To determine how to interpret the ranges and intensities arrays, check if elements_poses_count is 1 or more.

Recommended Properties

The following properties are recommended to be provided by drivers supporting this interface, depending on device type.

Laser scanner devices

(string) type: Type of device. For human debugging rather than client usage.

Sonar array devices

(string) type: Type of device. For human debugging rather than client usage.

IR array devices

(string) type: Type of device. For human debugging rather than client usage.


Last updated 12 September 2005 21:38:45