Mapping LiDAR scan data

This project uses a Benewake TFMini Plus LiDAR module mounted to scan 225 degrees on a vertical axis. A hall effect angle encoder reports the angular position of the scan rotor.

Rotating LiDAR mounted on a Zero Turn (early prototype) car:

Rotating LiDAR mounted on an Omni-Wheel type car:

More about Omni-Wheels can be found here.

By using the scan data, the car can navigate autonomously, able to make a multi-leg trip through the house.
An onboard Raspberry Pi 3B+ runs a python program which:

• Collects data from the TFminiPlus on a USB serial port
• Collects readings from the angular encoder via ADC (on I2C bus)
• Finds the best fit lines through the scan points
• Displays a plot of the points and the best fit lines.
• Using OpenCV, calculates the best path forward, avoiding objects in its environment
• Sends motor drive commands to the Arduino on the serial port
  (Arduino controls the motors through an Adafruit motor shield)
• Keeps track of its position using data from an IMU and an odometer.
  • The IMU is an Adafruit BNO085 operating in RVC mode, sending data via serial
  • The odometer is a wheel mounted on the shaft of an incremental encoder,
    • Encoder data is collected by an ESP32 and sent to RasPi via ADC