How can Ouster LiDAR be integrated with external GNSS/INS?

daneland

We are looking to buy an Ouster LiDAR puck soon. I would like to find out how Ouster LiDAR can be integrated with an external GNSS receiver (e.g. Trimble R2/Emlid Reach RS ) or a combined GNSS/INS positioning solution. I have seen a couple threads that talked about connecting a GNSS receiver to Ouster LiDAR, they suggest the Ouster Interface Box and the GNSS receiver will be open and "hard-wired". The only thread that talks about integration with an external IMU does not provide much information.

@Mohit @SlavaPavlov , please could you provide some information.

Thank you.

SlavaPavlov

Hello @daneland
For conducting the survey, you will need an Ouster lidar, GNSS Receiver and an on-board computer, when operating in RTK mode. Whilst the lidar will create a 3D point cloud, the RTK receiver will be proving geospatial position and an on-board computer will be registering sensor readings, which are being transferred via Ethernet communication port. You can then process the GNSS and IMU data in a software like Inertial Explorer. However, the primary difficulty with integration in such way is synchronizing the timing of the different devices as well as RTK in a city can be a bit of a challenge. You can find more information about time synchronization in OusterGuide (Chapter 5). In this case, more favorable solution would be PPK mode.
Therefore, I would like to ask for what purposes you wish to integrate Ouster lidar with external GNSS? Once I will know that, I will suggest a more detailed workaround.
Looking forward to your response!
Best regards,
Sviatoslav Pavlov

daneland

Hello @SlavaPavlov,

Thanks for your reply. I had a chat with a guy at Ouster and he has suggested a workaround.

Cheers!

SlavaPavlov

Hello @daneland
Glad that the issue has been resolved.
Feel free to contact us if you get any further inquiries!

Cheers!
Slava

d4nb3r

Hi Slava, Im kind of confused here. Im in the process of building a mobile mapping system and I thought that being in RTK with the correct time sync will stamp the information of the GNSS and the INS in every point in realtime. In this method do I need to post process the GNSS and INS data?

Daniel B
www.srcc.co

SlavaPavlov

Hello Daniel,

The integration of the GNSS and IMU can be done both in RTK and PPK modes. The reason why I mentioned post-processing is because it is not always easy or feasible to transmit RTK corrections in real-time. As for your question, you won't necessarily need to post-process the GNSS and INS data when working in RTK.

Best regards,
Slava

AdityaR

Can you please suggest the work around as i have been having trouble with this issue when i am going for mobile mapping and apart from this how do we preference points from the data obtained.

NelliBalzer

Hi..Difficult to state. There are so numerous uknown factors playing in.

I wild supposition would be max 20m agl for a 2D precision of 20cm with 330RTK. The third measurement would highly(mainly) rely upon territory inclination&vegetation and flight height. And afterward theres the product to handle this.

pcba manufacturer with iso 13485 certificate

GBull

Hey all.
We have similar task as daneland: Ouster OS-0-128 must be "built" into the system, which already consists of computer running on linux (AMD ryzen 9), external GNSS reciever and photogrammetric system. Lidar data is needed to improve the accuracy of our measurments (main targets are road signs and markings).
So, @Mohit @SlavaPavlov , could you please give me a hint (or step-by-step instruction, if possible, bc i am kinda new to this) on these questions:

Integrate and synchronize Ouster lidar in our system. SF Guide and SlavaPavlov already mentioned this question partly, but if something can be added in relation to my case, it will be very valuable information.
How to receive output from OS-0-128 in .las. I know it is easy to get .ptap or ROS .bag files with point cloud data using Ouster Studio and your code examples, but in our project it is necessary to use .las files. How may i achieve it?

Big thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Gleb Bulygin