Found this 'neato' (wait for it) little project on diydrones.com. The project details the workings and implementation of a hacked LIDAR device from a Neato XV-11 vacuum cleaner robot—for the purpose of reusing it in your own personal robotic projects. Makes for some interesting reading. Check it out some time....
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/xv-11-lidar-copter
http://xv11hacking.wikispaces.com/home
Saw these LIDARs scavenged
Saw these LIDARs scavenged from NEATOs and sold on E-Bay for about $100. I exchanged emails with the seller once. The draw backs for me was the size (~5"x~6"), weight (can’t remember) and power requirements (300 mA). That aside, the device is pretty cool. I saw a video of it in use with the data displayed radar-like. The guy making the video walked across the room and you could see his two legs move on the display as he walked. Pretty cool.
