SICK LMS-200 Laser Integration Board
From MobileRobots Research and Academic Customer Support
On the Pioneer 3 DX, Pioneer 3 AT, and Peoplebot, the SICK LMS-200 Laser Rangefinder is connected to power and the onboard computer via a special laser integration device. (Research Patrolbot also has a laser interface with similar behavior, see below.)
The mounting bracket and board are included and pre-installed when any robot is ordered along with a SICK LMS-200. (If a SICK LMS-200 is ordered seperately, then you must also order the integration board and install them on your robot yourself: the ARNL/Laser manual includes instructions, or contact support for help.)
The SICK LMS-100 does not require an integration board.
The interface board is contained within the black mounting bracket. It uses the value of the serial port RTS line to switch power to the laser: when a program opens the serial port and sets RTS, the laser will be powered on (it will take several seconds to finish initializing). When a program closes the serial port and unsets RTS, power for the laser will be switched off. This forces the laser to reset between uses, and conserves a bit of battery power as well.
ARIA's robot parameter files includes a setting, LaserPowerControlled, which when true, instructs ARIA to expect the laser integration board to operate this way, and it will wait for the laser to power on and initialize after the serial port is opened. If this is false then ARIA may not wait for the laser to go through this power on initialization routine.
Note: The Research Patrolbot (a Patrolbot sold as an educational or acadedemic research development platform) also switches laser power when the serial port is open, but this behavior is unique to the "Research" version; therefore for first generation Research PatrolBots (with gray colored body, sold through 2010), the LaserPowerControlled option in the patrolbot-sh.p ARIA parameter file must manually be set to true, even though the default value for patrolbot-sh.p is false. Later Research PatrolBots (MT400-600-R spec with white body and blue running lights), LaserPowerControlled is correctly set to true in its researchPB.p parameter file.
The hard power switch found on the laser bracket simply disconnects power completely from the laser and may be used to reset or turn off laser power even if a program has left the serial port open (due to a crash or other sudden exit without closing the port properly), or you want a program to fail its connection to the laser and continue without using it, or abort (depending on the specific program's design).
On the PowerBot and PatrolBot, the laser interface electronics are always mounted inside the robot.
The PowerBot allows an "always on" mode, where power is not switched in response to the serial port. Select this mode using the toggle switch on the side control panel.
Laser power on the PatrolBot may also be disabled by sending commands to the uARCS to switch off the laser's power port.
- Sales Code(s)
- ACA0026 (SICK LM-200 integration kit for P3DX, P3AT, and Peoplebot; includes integration electronics, mounting bracket, cables, and ARNL software)
