VeloView

Introduction

VeloView performs real-time visualization of live captured 3D LiDAR data from Velodyne's HDL sensors (HDL-32E, HDL-64E, VLP-16). An introduction to features of VeloView is available as a video:

VeloView can playback pre-recorded data stored in .pcap files. The HDL sensor sweeps an array of lasers (16, 32, or 64) 360° and a vertical field of view of 40°/26° with 5-20Hz and captures about a million points per second (HDL-32E: ~700,000pt/sec; HDL-64E: ~1.3Million pt/sec). VeloView displays the distance measurements from the HDL as point cloud data and supports custom color maps of multiple variables such as intensity-of-return, time, distance, azimuth, and laser id. The data can be exported as XYZ data in CSV format or screenshots of the currently displayed point cloud can be exported with the touch of a button.

Features

• Input from live sensor stream or recorded .pcap file
• Visualization of LiDAR returns in 3D + time including 3d position and attribute data such as timestamp, azimuth, laser id, etc
• Spreadsheet inspector for LiDAR attributes
• Record to .pcap from sensor
• Export to CSV or VTK formats
• Record and export GPS and IMU data (New in 2.0)
• Ruler tool (New in 2.0)
• Visualize path of GPS data (New in 2.0)
• Show multiple frames of data simultaneously (New in 2.0)
• Show or hide a subset of lasers (New in 2.0)

How to Obtain

Binary installers for VeloView are available as community contributed applications:

• Version 3.1.1 - Windows 64
• Version 3.1.1- Windows 32
• Version 3.1.1 - Mac OSX 10.8

Previous releases are also available

• Version 2.0 - Windows 64
• Version 2.0 - Windows 32
• Version 2.0 - Mac OSX 10.8
• Version 1.0.8 - Windows 64
• Version 1.0.8 - Windows 32
• Version 1.0.8 - Mac OSX 10.8

The source code for VeloView is made available under the Apache 2.0 license. To obtain the latest version clone the git repository as shown below:

$ git clone https://github.com/Kitware/VeloView.git

Sample data for VeloView can be obtained from MIDAS in the Velodyne LiDAR collection.

How to use

For “sensor streaming” (live display of sensor data) it is important to change the network settings of the Ethernet adapter connected to the sensor from automatic IP address to manual IP address selection and choose:

• HDL-32E and VLP-16
  • IP address: 192.168.1.70 (70 as example, any number except 201 works)
  • Gateway: 255.255.255.0
• HDL-64E
  • IP address: 192.168.3.70 (70 as example, any number except 43 works)
  • Gateway: 192.168.3.255

In order for sensor streaming to work properly, it is important to disable firewall restrictions for the Ethernet port. Disable the firewall completely for the ethernet device connected to the sensor or explicitly allow data from that Ethernet port of (including both public and private networks).

When opening pre-recorded data or live sensor streaming data one is prompted to choose a calibration file.

• For HDL-32E or VLP-16 data no calibration file is needed (the calibration values are already incorporated in VeloView) therefore select HDL-32 or VLP-16.
• For HDL-64E data the correct calibration file for that sensor needs to be chosen. The calibration file can be found on the individual product CD that was send with the HDL-64E sensor.

How to build

Detailed instructions for building and packaging are available in developers guide the source code checkout under the Documentation folder.