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lidar-vlp16-setup.md

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date 2026-04-29
title Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR Setup Guide

The Velodyne VLP-16 ("Puck") is a 16-channel 3D LiDAR widely used in robotics for mapping, localization, and obstacle detection. This tutorial covers the full setup on Ubuntu 24.04 with ROS 2 Jazzy — from hardware connection to point cloud visualization.

Hardware Requirements

Before beginning, confirm you have the following:

Hardware:

  • Velodyne VLP-16 Lidar
  • Velodyne interface cable (provides both power and Ethernet breakout)
  • DC power supply (check the voltage and current requirement on the VLP16 user manual)
  • A PC with a physical Ethernet port, or a USB-to-Ethernet adapter

Software (on host PC):

  • Ubuntu 24.04
  • ROS 2 Jazzy (installation instructions at docs.ros.org)

Note: This guide is based on Ubuntu 24.04 and ROS 2 Jazzy. The general steps apply to other Ubuntu/ROS 2 combinations, but package names, file paths, and commands may differ slightly.

Step 1: Physical Connection and Power-Up

  1. Connect the VLP-16's interface cable to your PC's Ethernet port (or USB-to-Ethernet adapter).
  2. Connect the power leads to your DC power supply.
  3. Power on the supply.

Within a few seconds of power-up, the sensor should begin spinning. The status LEDs will be turned on once the sensor is operational. If the unit does not spin, double-check if the power source provides correct voltage level and supply current.

Step 2: Configure a Static IP Address on Ubuntu

All data is streamed over UDP/IP Ethernet. Check the sensor's default IP address in the user manual, and set your PC to a static IP on the same subnet to receive packets.

The commands in the steps below use 192.168.1.201 as the lidar's IP and 192.168.1.100 as the PC's IP.

2.1 Identify Your Ethernet Interface

With the Ethernet cable not yet connected to the LiDAR, run:

ip a

Look for an interface name such as enp0s31f6, eth0, eno1, or (for USB adapters) something like enx144fd7c114ac. Note this name — we'll call it <iface> below.

2.2 Assign a Temporary Static IP (Command Line)

sudo ip addr flush dev <iface>
sudo ip addr add 192.168.1.100/24 dev <iface>
sudo ip link set <iface> up

For example, if your interface is enx144fd7c114ac:

sudo ip addr flush dev enx144fd7c114ac
sudo ip addr add 192.168.1.100/24 dev enx144fd7c114ac
sudo ip link set enx144fd7c114ac up

Verify the address was applied:

ip a show <iface>

You should see inet 192.168.1.100/24 in the output.

2.3 (Optional) Make the Static IP Permanent

The ip addr commands above are temporary — they will be lost after a reboot. If you want to persist the configuration, edit your Netplan configuration:

sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

Add or modify the section for your interface:

network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    <iface>:
      dhcp4: no
      addresses:
        - 192.168.1.100/24

Apply the configuration:

sudo netplan apply

Step 3: Verify the Network Connection

Now connect the Ethernet cable to the LiDAR and ping the sensor's default IP:

ping 192.168.1.201

A successful response confirms network connectivity. If ping fails, check:

  • The Ethernet cable is seated in both the LiDAR interface box and the PC
  • The sensor is powered and spinning
  • Your IP was correctly assigned

3.1 Verify UDP Data Packets (No ROS Required)

Even before installing any ROS packages, you can confirm the sensor is transmitting data using tcpdump:

sudo tcpdump -i <iface> udp port 2368

If the sensor is working, you will see a rapid flood of UDP packets. This step is highly recommended as it isolates hardware/network issues from ROS configuration issues. If tcpdump shows packets but ROS does not receive data, the problem is software-side. If tcpdump shows nothing, the problem is hardware or network.

3.2 Access the Velodyne Web Interface

The VLP-16 hosts a small configuration web page you can access from any browser:

http://192.168.1.201

From this page you can:

  • Change the sensor's IP address
  • Adjust the motor RPM (300–1200 RPM; lower RPM = denser point cloud per rotation)
  • Switch return mode: Strongest, Last, or Dual (dual doubles packet rate)
  • Update firmware

If you change the sensor IP here, remember to update your static IP assignment and all ROS launch configurations to match the new address.

Step 4: Install the Velodyne ROS 2 Driver

Install the Velodyne driver packages from the ROS 2 apt repository:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO$-velodyne*

This installs three packages:

  • velodyne_driver — reads raw UDP packets from the sensor and publishes VelodyneScan messages
  • velodyne_pointcloud — converts raw scans into standard sensor_msgs/PointCloud2 messages
  • velodyne_msgs — message type definitions

Source your ROS 2 environment (add to ~/.bashrc if you haven't already):

source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO$/setup.bash

Step 5: Launch the Driver and Verify Topics

Launch all Velodyne nodes with the VLP-16 configuration:

ros2 launch velodyne velodyne-all-nodes-VLP16-launch.py

In a second terminal, list the active topics:

ros2 topic list

You should see at minimum:

/velodyne_packets
/velodyne_points

Confirm data is flowing:

ros2 topic echo /velodyne_points --once

If you see a large block of point data printed to the terminal, your hardware and driver are fully functional.

Step 6: Visualize Point Clouds in RViz2

RViz2 is the standard 3D visualization tool bundled with ROS 2. It is the fastest way to inspect your point cloud data.

Launch RViz2:

rviz2

In the RViz2 interface, configure the following:

  1. Fixed Frame: In the "Global Options" panel on the left, set the Fixed Frame to velodyne. This tells RViz2 to render everything relative to the LiDAR's own coordinate frame.

  2. Add a PointCloud2 display: Click the Add button at the bottom of the Displays panel, select By topic, and choose /velodyne_points of type PointCloud2.

You should now see a live, rotating 360° ring of points around the sensor. Moving objects will update in real time. If you see a static or partial scan, check the rotation rate — at 300 RPM the update is slower but each scan is denser.

Step 7: Visualize Point Clouds in Foxglove Studio

Foxglove Studio is a modern, web-based (and installable) visualization tool that works with ROS 2 and is particularly useful when you want a richer interface than RViz2, or when working with recorded bag files.

7.1 Install Foxglove Studio

Download the desktop application from foxglove.dev/download, or use the web version at studio.foxglove.dev.

Install the Foxglove bridge for ROS 2:

sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO$-foxglove-bridge

7.2 Launch the Bridge

With your Velodyne driver already running in one terminal, open a second terminal and start the bridge:

source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO$/setup.bash
ros2 launch foxglove_bridge foxglove_bridge_launch.xml

By default, this exposes a WebSocket server on port 8765.

7.3 Connect and Visualize

  1. Open Foxglove Studio (desktop or browser).
  2. Click Open connection → Rosbridge / Foxglove WebSocket.
  3. Enter the address ws://localhost:8765 (or replace localhost with your PC's IP if connecting from another machine on the network).
  4. Once connected, click the + button to add a 3D panel.
  5. In the panel settings, add /velodyne_points as a topic. The point cloud will render in 3D immediately.

Foxglove offers several advantages over RViz2 for data exploration: you can overlay multiple sensor streams, adjust color maps, and use the timeline scrubber when replaying bag files — all from a clean, browser-style interface.

Step 8: Record and Replay Data with ROS 2 Bags

Recording sensor data is essential for algorithm development and debugging, as it lets you replay exactly what the sensor captured during a real-world run.

8.1 Record a Bag File

Navigate to the directory where you want to store the bag, then run:

ros2 bag record /velodyne_points

This records the /velodyne_points topic. To record multiple topics simultaneously:

ros2 bag record /velodyne_points /velodyne_packets /tf

Press Ctrl+C to stop recording. The output will be a directory named:

rosbag2_YYYY_MM_DD-HH_MM_SS/

8.2 Replay a Bag File

ros2 bag play rosbag2_YYYY_MM_DD-HH_MM_SS

While the bag is playing, you can open RViz2 or Foxglove Studio exactly as described above — they will receive the replayed topic data just as if the physical sensor were connected.

Useful replay options:

# Play at half speed (useful for slow-motion inspection)
ros2 bag play rosbag2_YYYY_MM_DD-HH_MM_SS --rate 0.5

# Loop the bag continuously
ros2 bag play rosbag2_YYYY_MM_DD-HH_MM_SS --loop

8.3 Inspect Bag Contents

ros2 bag info rosbag2_YYYY_MM_DD-HH_MM_SS

This prints the recording duration, number of messages per topic, and storage format — useful for verifying a recording before sharing it.

Summary

This tutorial covered VLP-16 setup: hardware connection, static IP configuration, ROS 2 driver setup, and point cloud visualization.

See Also

Further Reading

References