HDL™- 64E USER’S MANUAL High Definition Lidar™ Sensor
Caution INVISIBLE LASER RADIATION DO NOT VIEW DIRECTLY WITH OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS CLASS 1M LASER PRODUCT . www.velodyne.
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Principles of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Installation Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 - Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of a Velodyne HDL-64E High Definition Lidar Sensor. This product represents a breakthrough in sensing technology by providing exponentially more information about the surrounding environment than previously possible. This guide first covers installation and wiring, then addresses output packet construction and interpretation, and finally discusses the serial interface to the unit and software updates. This manual is undergoing constant www.velodyne.
Principles of Operation The HDL-64E operates on a rather simple premise: instead of a single laser firing through a rotating mirror, 64 lasers are mounted on upper and lower blocks of 32 lasers each and the entire unit spins. This design allows for 64 separate lasers to each fire thousands of times per second, providing exponentially more data points per second and a much richer point cloud than conventional designs. The unit inherently delivers a 360-degree horizontal field of view (FOV) and a 26.
I n s ta l l a t i o n O v e r v i e w Front/Back Mounting The HDL-64E base provides two mounting options: side mount and top mount. See Figure 2 for front/back mounting options, Figure 3 for side/side mounting, and Figure 4 for top mounting instructions. Four M8-1.25 x 12mm deep mounting points. (Four per side, for a total of 16.) Mounting Base Figure 2. Front and back HDL mounting illustration. See Figure 2.
Side Mounting Mounting Base Figure 3. Side/side HDL mounting illustration. . www.velodyne.
To p M o u n t i n g Four .406” through holes for top mount option to secure the HDL to the vehicle. Figure 4. HDL top mounting illustration. Figure 4 shows the location of four .406” thru holes for top mounting. For all mounting options, be sure the HDL-64E is mounted securely to withstand vibration and shock without risk of detachment. The unit need not be shock proofed — it is designed to withstand standard automotive G-forces.
Wiring The HDL-64E comes with a pre-wired connector, wired with power, DB9 serial, and standard RJ-45 Ethernet connectors.The connector wires are approximately 25’ in length. Power. Connect the red and black wires to vehicle power. Be sure red is positive polarity. THE HDL-64E IS RATED ONLY FOR 12 VOLTS. Any voltage applied over 16 volts could damage the unit. Expect the unit to draw 4-6 amps during normal usage. NOTE: The HDL-64E does not have a power switch. It spins whenever power is applied.
The HDL-64E data is presented as distances and intensities only. Velodyne includes a packet viewer called DSR, whose installer files are on the CD that came with the unit. DSR reads in the packets from the HDL-64E unit, performs the necessary calculations to plot the points presented in 3-D space, and plots the points on the viewer screen. Note: The HDL-64E will output three upper block packets for every one lower block packet. This provides more resolution when identifying objects at greater distances.
Controlling the Spin Rate The HDL-64E can spin at rates ranging from 300 RPM (5 Hz) to 900 RPM (15 Hz). The default is 600 RPM (10 Hz). Note that changing the spin rate does not change the data rate – the unit will send out the same number of packets (at a rate of one million data points per second) regardless of spin rate. The image resolution will increase or decrease depending on rotation speed. See Appendix B for angular resolution figures for various spin rates.
Troubleshooting Use this chart to troubleshoot common problems with the HDL-64E. Problem Resolution Unit doesn’t spin Verify power connection and polarity. Verify proper voltage – should be 12 volts drawing about 3-4 amps. Remove bottom cover and check inline fuse. Replace if necessary. Unit spins but no data Verify Ethernet wiring. Verify packet output from another source (e.g. Ethereal/Wireshark). No serial communication Verify RS-232 cable connection.
Specifications • • • • • • 64 lasers/detectors 360 degree field of view (azimuth) 0.09 degree angular resolution (azimuth) 26.8 degree vertical field of view (elevation) -+2° up to -24.8° down with 64 equally spaced angular subdivisions (approximately 0.4°) <5 cm distance accuracy 5-15 Hz rotation rate update (user selectable) 50 meter range for pavement (~0.10 reflectivity) 120 meter range for cars and foliage (~0.80 reflectivity) >1M points per second <0.
. www.velodyne.com H I B A D E J C F G KEY P1 User Interface Harness P1 GND 12-16VDC (+) J I G F C B EHTERNET OUT (+) H EHTERNET IN (+) E EHTERNET OUT (-) A EHTERNET IN (-) D J2 BLK RED N/C N/C N/C N/C CENTER CON.
Appendix B - Angular Resolution Lower Block RPM RPS Points Per Revolution Points Per Revolution Per Laser Angular Resolution (degrees) 300 600 900 5 10 15 50000 25000 16667 1562.5 781.25 521 0.2304 0.4608 0.6912 RPS Points Per Revolution Points Per Revolution Per Laser Angular Resolution (degrees) Post-Lower-Block Angular Resolution (degrees)** 5 10 15 200000 100000 66667 6250 3125 2083 0.0576 0.1152 0.1728 0.1152 0.2304 0.
A p p e n d i x C - D i g i ta l S e n s o r R e c o r d e r ( D S R ) Digital Sensor Recorder (DSR) DSR is a 3-dimensional point cloud visualization software program designed for use with the HDL-64E. It can be located on the CD provided with each HDL-64E sensor. Velodyne offers this software as an “out of the box” tool for the rendering and recording of point cloud data from the HDL-64E sensor.
You can now go to “Options/Properties” to change the individual settings for each LASER channel if so desired. REFRESH button = Provided that your computer is now receiving data packets, click on the Refresh button to start live viewing of a point cloud. The initial image is of a directly overhead perspective. See page 17 for mouse and key commands used to manipulate the 3D image within the viewer. Note: The image can be manipulated in all directions and become disorienting.
Utilizing the db.XML calibration data file in DSR The db.XML file provided with your Velodyne HDL-64E contains all of the necessary data for the proper alignment of the point cloud information gathered by the HDL sensor for each laser. {vertical correction (deg), rotational correction (deg), distance correction (cm), vertical offset (cm), horizontal offset (cm), minimum and maximum intensity (0-255)}.
Figure 6. Calibration values as seen in DSR/File/Properties . www.velodyne.
DSR Key Controls Zoom: Z = Zoom in Shift, Z = Zoom out Z axis rotation: Y = Rotate CW Shift, Y = Rotate CCW X axis rotation: P = Rotate CW Shift, P = Rotate CCW Y axis rotation: R = Rotate CW Shift, R = Rotate CCW Z Shift: F = Forward B = Back X Shift: L = Left H = Right Y Shift: U = Up D = Down Aux.
Velodyne Acoustics, Inc. 345 Digital Drive Morgan Hill, CA 95037 408.465.2800 voice 408.779.9227 fax 408.779.9208 service fax www.velodyne.com Service E-mail: service@velodyne.com Product E-mail: help@velodyne.com Technical E-mail: techhelp@velodyne.com Sales E-mail: lidar@velodyne.com . 63-HDL-64E Rev D MAR08 www.velodyne.com Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
