Hey Movie Maker,

I would love to buy one of these stand-a-lone units but the electronics and programming overhead involved seems beyond my current capabilities to make it work with Ez-Script. I don't know C# and don't have the bandwidth to learn and buy everything required to use it. But if you have a solution of how to integrate it with EZ-Script I'll buy it today!

Rich has been helping me for about the last week just to send and receive commands to an intact Neato XV-11.

Thanks

robotmaker found a very low cost way to interface it and use it. He wants you to email him personally. The email address is above.

As @EEGbiofeedback has said, there is a pretty simple, free method to interface it using EventGhost, the serial plugin and python to Telnet the required data into ARC. While I don't have one to play with I'm sure a simple Bluetooth TTL module could be used to wirelessly transmit the data too. There may even be an even simpler method but I will need to take a proper look in to it before I even suggest it.

If there is a working solution other than what has been discussed previously it would be great to share it with the community rather than keep it all behind closed doors - that is what makes this community pretty special after all

I don't know it. Fred knows it. Perhaps he will share it with us.

Fred is currently banned from posting on the board, but has conveyed to me that he would be happy to converse with anyone on how to interface to the Neato Lidar by email: [email protected]

He also gave me this link to share on hooking up Neato via USB http://www.ros.org/wiki/xv_11_laser_driver/Tutorials/Connecting%20the%20XV-11%20Laser%20to%20USB

Alan

There are basically two methods to gather the Lidar output. One involves using published commands provided by the NeatoRobotics website to tell the Neato to enter the maintenance mode, spin up its Lidar motor and provide a snapshot output of 360 degrees. Of course this is done via the Mini USB cable and requires the use of a Neato provided comm driver. The second method involves just the Lidar unit removed from the Neato and requires 5vdc power for the Lidar unit and power for the dc motor with PWM control to maintain 300 rpm so that the Lidar output will be readable. This is where the rub comes in, seems some folks are privileged with python code that can provide readable images of a Lidar scan and is captured from the Tx lead of the Lidar unit. Fred offers some sort of software "Not found on the Internet" if you purchase a Lidar unit from him.