The USB2LDS is a board that makes it easy to use a Neato LDS (the LIDAR from the Neato XV-11, XV-25, etc… vacuum-cleaner robots) with a PC. It plugs into the PC through a USB Micro cable and has ports for the LDS and its motor.

IMPORTANT NOTE: this device is different from the one made by Robotis Inc, and while it serves a similar purpose, it does not work with the same sensors. My version pre-dates the one from Robotis by 3-4 years and only works with the old sensors salvaged from Neato Robotics robots. If you want a device that works with the 360 Laser Distance Sensor LDS-01, then get the Robotis USB2LDS.

• Virtual serial COM port @ 115200 baud
• Integrated PID to keep the motor turning at precisely the desired speed
• Powered from USB, and it powers both the sensor part and the motor.
• Secondary power input for the motor if you don't want it to be powered from USB
• Open source and hackable, GPIO pins available

1. Plug the two connectors of the Neato LDS Lidar on one end, a USB cable on the other.
2. Connect the cable to your computer, and if needed, install the INF Driver (for Windows).
3. Open the serial port that has been created with a baudrate of 115200. The motor will start turning and data flowing. It is however NOT human readable, you need a library to decode it and use it.

• Setting parameters

Right now, I only assemble boards on demand, so drop me an email at contact@xevelabs.com.
Price is 30 USD / 30 EUR.
Shipping is 5 EUR for France, 10 EUR for Europe and 15 USD for the rest of the world.

Contributors:
Nicolas Saugnier (Xevel) - everything so far.

Thanks:
Dean Camera for making the greatest USB library for AVR, LUFA.
Weston T. Schmidt for making the cross-platform app DFU-Programmer!

Inspirations:
Arduino Uno
Adafruit ATmega32u4 Breakout Board

• INF Driver (for Windows)
• Repository with design files and code: https://github.com/Xevel/usb2lds

For any comment or question: contact@xevelabs.com