The Open Lidar Project - Hack the Neato XV-11 Lidar for a $400 Bounty!

Howdy folks,I got inspired by Adafruit’s Kinect Hacking bounty and got to thinking. What if I sponsored a hacking project myself? So, I got to thinking and decided we really needed to get the Neato Robotics XV-11 scanning lidar system hacked and useful to robot builders. So, I’m offering up $401 ($2


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/blog/show/the-open-lidar-project-hack-the-neato-xv-11-lidar-for-a-400-bounty

Just got an email from

Just got an email from RobotShop. They are upping the bounty (again!) and offering to refund the cost of the robot, if you buy it from them!

https://www.robotshop.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pc=RB-Nto-01

No excuses now.

I’m really NOT qualified to

I’m really NOT qualified to do this. I wish I were…

@emuller,You never know. I

@emuller,

You never know. I think people are just being lazy and not trying. The pads on the PCB are even labeled! “RX”, “TX”, and "GND"

https://www.robotshop.com/blog/images/Neato-270.jpg

A Neato engineer has stated that it’s easy to hack and the block diagram from their paper labels it as a “serial interface”.

I’ve seen the lidar in

I’ve seen the lidar in action and it would be an incredible tool for maping ! 

Here is a vid of it in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zodC8EFvh7g

Hack successful!

They did it!

xv11_hacked.png

Congratulations to gallamine for a bounty hunt well done! via botjunkie