🛡️ Robust RPLIDAR ROS 2 Driver

“Because the official driver shouldn’t crash just because you pulled the plug.”

A fault-tolerant ROS 2 driver for Slamtec RPLIDAR, built around a Lifecycle State Machine and a thread-safe architecture. Your robot keeps running even under hardware disconnection or permission failures.

⚡ Why Use This?

Most existing RPLIDAR drivers assume the hardware never misbehaves. This driver assumes the opposite. Compared to the reference implementation:

🚀 Getting Started

Option A — Binary install (coming soon)

This package has been submitted to the ROS 2 build farm. Once it syncs, you will be able to install it directly:

sudo apt install ros-${ROS_DISTRO}-rplidar-driver

Supported distros: Humble, Jazzy, Lyrical, and Rolling.

Option B — Build from source

cd ~/ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/frozenreboot/rplidar_driver.git
cd ..

# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

# Build the workspace
colcon build --symlink-install

Quick Launch

ros2 launch rplidar_driver rplidar.launch.py serial_port:=/dev/ttyUSB0

Dynamic Reconfigure (Runtime)

You can change the motor speed without killing the node:

ros2 param set /rplidar_node rpm 1000
ros2 param set /rplidar_node scan_mode DenseBoost

🧪 Call for Experiments: “Does it survive?”

We need your help to validate this driver on various robots! If you use this driver, please stress-test it (e.g., unplug USB while scanning, change RPM dynamically) and share your results.

📢 How to Submit a Report

Please open an issue with the title [Experiment] Your_Robot_Name and include:

1. Lidar Model: (e.g., A1, A2, S1…)
2. Recovery Log: (Copy paste the terminal output when you unplug/replug)
3. Screenshot: rqt_graph or rviz2

👉 Submit your Experiment Report Here

🏗️ Architecture

This driver uses a 3-Layer Design to decouple ROS 2 logic from the vendor SDK.

• Node Layer: Handles Lifecycle & Parameters.

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Changelog for package rplidar_driver

1.4.1 (2026-07-18)

• Fixed the Rolling build by passing the node by reference to tf2_ros::StaticTransformBroadcaster (NodeInterfaces API migration).
• Contributors: JWJ | frozenreboot

1.4.0 (2026-07-17)

• Raised the minimum required CMake version to 3.16 and verified builds on ROS 2 Jazzy and Lyrical (#38).
• Refactored the node entry point to use the rclcpp_components template macro and moved the node into the rplidar_node namespace (#36).
• Cleaned up package dependencies and linter configuration, fixing test dependency failures on the ROS build farm (#35).
• Fixed Rolling build compatibility (#33).
• Added a license audit documenting the vendored Slamtec SDK provenance for the first rosdistro release (#32).
• Converted the changelog to REP-132 format for catkin release tools (#31).
• Renamed the package to rplidar_driver following REP-144 naming guidelines (#29).
• Added GTest-based test infrastructure, including mock driver tests and lifecycle/publication tests (#20).
• Clarified that the angle_offset parameter is specified in radians and removed the corresponding launch argument in favor of YAML parameters (#23).
• Fixed QoS parameter inconsistency by initializing the QoS parameter and applying the configured policy (#15).
• Added governance documentation and an AI disclosure section for OSRF compliance; added Błażej Sowa as a maintainer (#34).
• Contributors: Błażej Sowa, JWJ | frozenreboot, cosmicog, wj

v1.3.0 (2026-01-18)

• Added scan interpolation via the [interpolated_rays]{.title-ref} parameter to generate high-density, mathematical line-segment-based measurements.
• Added [publish_point_cloud]{.title-ref} and [intensities_as_angles]{.title-ref} parameters for debugging and analysis.
• Added configurable ROS 2 QoS profiles via the [qos_policy]{.title-ref} parameter.
• Deprecated [scan_processing]{.title-ref} in favor of the explicit [interpolated_rays]{.title-ref} parameter.
• Removed the [inverted]{.title-ref} parameter. Use TF or [angle_offset]{.title-ref} instead.
• Set the default [scan_mode]{.title-ref} to [Standard]{.title-ref} to prevent ghost points on S-series devices.
• Fixed segmentation faults in [dummy_mode]{.title-ref} caused by unsafe dynamic casting.
• Fixed an index out-of-bounds crash in the interpolation loop.
• Fixed [LifecycleNode]{.title-ref} activation issues where publishers remained silent after state transition.
• Fixed a [TypeError]{.title-ref} in the composition launch file.
• Contributors: cosmicog, frozenreboot

v1.2.0 (2026-01-09)

• Updated copyright years to 2026.
• Fixed scan data mirroring issue where left and right were inverted.
• Fixed launch arguments overriding parameter file settings.
• Contributors: frozenreboot

v1.1.0 (2026-01-06)

• Refactored [RPlidarNode]{.title-ref} into a [rclcpp_component]{.title-ref} to enable component composition and improve IPC performance.
• Added diagnostics for frequency and connection status via [diagnostic_updater]{.title-ref}.
• Updated scan data output to use [Inf]{.title-ref} for out-of-range measurements according to REP-117.
• Contributors: frozenreboot

v1.0.1 (2026-01-03)

• Fixed diagnostic messages when the driver is in a disconnected state.
• Contributors: frozenreboot