RPLIDAR A1

2016-08-17 rev.1.0

Low Cost 360 Degree Laser Range Scanner

Development Kit User Manual

Model: A1M8
www.slamtec.com

Shanghai Slamtec.Co.,Ltd
Contents

CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................... 1

OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................... 3

ITEMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT KIT ....................................................................................................................... 3

RPLIDAR A1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
USB ADAPTER .................................................................................................................................................... 4

CONNECTION AND USAGE ..................................................................................................................... 5

CONNECTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
INSTALL DRIVER FOR THE USB ADAPTER ........................................................................................................... 6
RUN DEMO APPLICATION .................................................................................................................................. 7
TROUBLESHOOTING ............................................................................................................................................ 9

SDK INTRODUCTION AND USAGE ...................................................................................................... 10

RPLIDAR A1 PIN DEFINITION AND SPECIFICATION ....................................................................................... 10

PIN DEFINITION FOR THE USB ADAPTER ......................................................................................................... 11
CONFIGURE RPLIDAR A1 SCAN FREQUENCY................................................................................................. 12
SDK USAGE...................................................................................................................................................... 12

OPERATION RECOMMENDATION....................................................................................................... 13

PRE-HEATING FOR BEST PERFORMANCE ......................................................................................................... 13

AMBIENT TEMPERATURE................................................................................................................................... 13
AMBIENT LIGHT ................................................................................................................................................ 13

REVISION HISTORY ................................................................................................................................. 14

APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................................. 15

IMAGE AND TABLE INDEX ................................................................................................................................. 15

Overview
RPLIDAR A1 development kit includes the matched tools used for evaluating
RPLIDAR A1’s performance and initial development. After connecting the RPLIDAR
A1 with PC via USB cable and adapter, Users can observe the cloud map of the
environment scanning point collected by the RPLIDAR A1 and start development
based on the SDK.

Items in the Development Kit

RPLIDAR A1 Development Kit contains:

o RPLIDAR A1（PWM motor driver embedded）

o USB Adapter

o RPLIDAR A1 communication cable

Note: The Micro-USB cable needs to be prepared by users.

RPLIDAR
USB Adapter Module

RPLIDAR communication cable

Figure 1-1 Items in the RPLIDAR A1 Development Kit

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RPLIDAR A1

Figure 1-2 The RPLIDAR A1

The RPLIDAR A1 development kit contains standard RPLIDAR A1 unit (A1M8-R1).

The RPLIDAR A1 is embedded with logic IO drivable(3.3v) motor controller which
can be used to configure the scan frequency by tuning motor speed. Developers
can also choose to turn off the motor for power saving purpose.

RPLIDAR A1 usage and interface definition will be introduced in the coming

sections.

USB Adapter

Figure 1-3 RPLIDAR A1 Adapter

RPLIDAR A1 development kit contains a USB adapter to provide power supply for
RPLIDAR A1 and convert RPLIDAR A1 internal UART serial interface to USB
interface.

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Connection and Usage
Connection
RPLIDAR A1 can be easily connected to PC according to the following steps.

1) Connect RPLIDAR A1 with the USB adapter using provided communication

cable. The socket is in the bottom of RPLIDAR A1.

Figure 2-1 Connect RPLIDAR A1 and USB Adapter

2) Connect the USB adapter to your PC using the Micro-USB cable. After
connecting RPLIDAR A1 to your PC through the USB cable, the LED in the
bottom of the RPLIDAR A1 will light up and RPLIDAR A1 start scanning.

Figure 2-2 Connect the USB Adapter to PC via Micro-USB Cable

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Install Driver for the USB Adapter
The USB adapter converts UART to USB by using CP2102 chip. You need to install
the device driver for the chip. The driver can be found in the provided SDK
package or downloaded from Silicon Labs’ official website:

http://www.silabs.com/products/interface/usb-bridges/Pages/usb-bridges.aspx

Here’s the installation steps in Windows:

After connecting the RPLIDAR A1 with PC, please find the driver file “CP210x VCP
Windows” and choose correct operating system version accordingly: x86 for 32-
bit OS and x64 for 64-bit OS.

Figure 2-3 Choose USB Adapter Driver for Installation

Figure 2-4 Start Page of USB Adapter Driver Installation

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After Installing the driver according to the above installation steps, you will see
corresponding serial port name in the [Control Panel] -> [Device and Printers].
Please refer to the below figure.

Figure 2-5 Recognized Serial Port Name Matched with the USB Adapter

Run Demo Application

Frame_grabber is a GUI demo application provided by SLAMTEC. You can view
the scan result directly in the UI and save the scan result to files for further
processing. The source code of this demo application is also provided in matched
SDK for reference.

This GUI demo can only run under Windows. For Linux and MacOS users, please
refer to the other simple demo provided in the SDK.

Please make sure you have connected RPLIDAR A1 to PC by using USB adapter
and installed the device driver correctly before running the demo
application.Starting demo application framgrabber.exe and choose serial port
name identified in the previous step.

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 Figure 2-6 Choose Serial Port Name Matched with the USB Adapter

If the connection is ok, you shall see the UI like this:

Figure 2-7 The Start of Demo Application

The firmware/hardware version and serial number of the RPLIDAR A1 will show in
the title line of the GUI. The supported commands of RPLIDAR A1 are showed in
the tool bar. The descriptions are listed in the bellow table.

Button Function Description

Start Scan Scan data will be displayed after scan core starting work
Stop Scan Scan core enter power save mode
Save Scan Data Save current scan data to the local file
Restart RPLIDAR A1 Restart scan core to clear internal errors
Figure 2-8 The Supported Commands in Demo Application

Press the Start Scan button ，the scan data will be displayed in the UI as below：

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 Figure 2-9 The Scan Outline in RPLIDAR A1 Demo Application

Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Move the cursor to any sample point,
the distance and degree value to the RPLIDAR A1 will be showed in the screen
with red font.

The scan frequency is also showed in the UI.

Troubleshooting
When the scan core or the laser power works abnormally, the scan core will enter
protection mode. This state can be retrieved by using SDK API. If such scenario
happened, please send restart command to reset the scan core.

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SDK Introduction and Usage
RPLIDAR A1 Pin Definition and Specification
The socket in the bottom of RPLIDAR A1 is using 5267-7A specification: 2.5mm
spacing 7 pin. Any communication cable has 5264-7 terminal block can be used
to connect with RPLIDAR A1. Please find the detail pin definition in the bellow
table:

P1 … P7

5267-7A

Pin Signal name Type Description Minimum Typical Maximum

Power supply for the
P1 VMOTO Power - 5V 9V
RPLIDAR A1 scan motor
Enable pin for RPLIDAR A1
scan motor/PWM control
P2 MOTOCTL Input 0V - VMOTO
signal
(active high)
GND signal for RPLIDAR A1
P3 GND Power - 0V -
scan motor
Power supply for RPLIDAR A1
P4 V5.0 Power 4.9V 5V 6V
scan core
Serial output for RPLIDAR A1
P5 TX Output 0V - 5V
scan core
Serial input for RPLIDAR A1
P6 RX Input 0V - 5V
scan core
GND signal for RPLIDAR A1
P7 GND Power - 0V V5.0
scan core
Figure 3-1 RPLIDAR A1 Pin Definition and Specification

External system must provide required VMOTO and V5.0 power to make scan
motor and scan core work correctly. In most of scenarios, VMOTO and V5.0 can
share the same power supply.

MOTOCTL Pin used to control scan motor speed to adjust RPLIDAR A1’s scan
frequency, PWM signal also can be applied. The equivalent circuit showed as
bellow:

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 Figure 3-2 RPLIDAR A1 MOTOCTL Equivalent Circuit

o Reference Design for RPLIDAR A1 development

RPLIDAR

VMOTO Power
GND
(4-9V DC)

V5.0
Power (5V DC)
GND

TX
UART
RX
MOTOCTL PWM Generator

MCU/DSP

Figure 3-3 RPLIDAR A1 Pins Reference Design

Pin Definition for the USB Adapter

The USB adapter is also using 5267-7A specification socket: 2.5mm spacing 7 pin.
Please find the detail pin definition in the bellow table:

P1 … P7

5267-7A

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 Pin Signal Name Description

P1 V5.0 Power supply for RPLIDAR A1 scan core, USB 5V input

P2 HIGH constant 5V high level output

P3 GND GND for RPLIDAR A1 scan motor, USB GND

P4 V5.0 Power supply for RPLIDAR A1 scan core, USB 5V input

P5 RX Input pin for USB serial adapter

P6 TX Output pin for USB serial adapter

P7 GND GND for RPLIDAR A1 scan core, USB GND

Figure 3-4 RPLIDAR A1 USB Adapter Pin Definition

Configure RPLIDAR A1 Scan Frequency

Since USB adapter’s control signal MOTOCTL is fixed to high level, RPLIDAR A1’s
scan motor is always rotating at its highest speed which makes RPLIDAR A1
working on a relative high scan frequency. You can configure RPLIDAR A1’s scan
frequency by controlling motor speed.

By connecting MOTOCTL signal to the device has PWM output function such as
MCU’s PWM output I/O port, RPLIDAR A1’s scan frequency can be locked in a
proper value by adjust duty ratio of PWM using the scan frequency feedback
provided by RPLIDAR A1 core.

Please refer to RPLIDAR A1 protocol and application note for more information.
SDK also contains the sample code.

SDK Usage
SLAMTEC provides RPLIDAR A1 SDK support on both Windows and Linux platform.
And users can embe the SDK source code to other operational system or
embedded system quickly. Please refer to the SDK document for more information.

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Operation Recommendation
Pre-Heating for Best Performance
The scan core will be heating when start working. We recommend pre-heating
RPLIDAR A1 (Start the scan mode and the scan motor is rotating) for more than 2
minutes to get the best measurement accuracy.

Ambient Temperature
RPLIDAR A1’s measurement resolution is sensitive to the ambient temperature.
Improper use may even damage the sensor. Please avoid using RPLIDAR A1 in
extreme high temperature (>40 degree) and too low temperature (<-10 degree).

Ambient Light
Although RPLIDAR A1 is not sensitive to ambient light, improper use may still lead
to errors. In indoor environment, please avoid lighting RPLIDAR A1 with strong
light source such as high-power laser.

In outdoor environment, please avoid facing RPLIDAR A1 directly to sun light. This
may lead to permanent damage to the image sensor of RPLIDAR A1 and make
the measurement invalid

The standard version of RPLIDAR A1 may have less measurement range in the
environment with strong sunlight.

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Revision History
Date Content

2013-3-5 Initial draft

2014-2-11 Refine for final product

2016-05-19 Replaced obsolete images

2016-08-17 Updated USB adapter image

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Appendix
Image and Table Index
FIGURE 1-1 ITEMS IN THE RPLIDAR A1 DEVELOPMENT KIT.............................................................................................. 3
FIGURE 1-2 THE RPLIDAR A1 ................................................................................................................................................... 4
FIGURE 1-3 RPLIDAR A1 ADAPTER ......................................................................................................................................... 4
FIGURE 2-1 CONNECT RPLIDAR A1 AND USB ADAPTER ................................................................................................. 5
FIGURE 2-2 CONNECT THE USB ADAPTER TO PC VIA MICRO-USB CABLE ................................................................... 5
FIGURE 2-3 CHOOSE USB ADAPTER DRIVER FOR INSTALLATION...................................................................................... 6
FIGURE 2-4 START PAGE OF USB ADAPTER DRIVER INSTALLATION ................................................................................. 6
FIGURE 2-5 RECOGNIZED SERIAL PORT NAME MATCHED WITH THE USB ADAPTER................................................... 7
FIGURE 2-6 CHOOSE SERIAL PORT NAME MATCHED WITH THE USB ADAPTER ........................................................... 8
FIGURE 2-7 THE START OF DEMO APPLICATION .................................................................................................................... 8
FIGURE 2-8 THE SUPPORTED COMMANDS IN DEMO APPLICATION ................................................................................. 8
FIGURE 2-9 THE SCAN OUTLINE IN RPLIDAR A1 DEMO APPLICATION......................................................................... 9
FIGURE 3-1 RPLIDAR A1 PIN DEFINITION AND SPECIFICATION .................................................................................... 10
FIGURE 3-2 RPLIDAR A1 MOTOCTL EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT ......................................................................................... 11
FIGURE 3-3 RPLIDAR A1 PINS REFERENCE DESIGN.......................................................................................................... 11
FIGURE 3-4 RPLIDAR A1 USB ADAPTER PIN DEFINITION .............................................................................................. 12

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Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Shanghai Slamtec Co., Ltd.