Examples

Use case

This example reads the CAN Lidar’s distance, status, flags, peak signal, and ambient-light values and publishes them to SmartDashboard. Use it to verify CAN communication, confirm the configured device ID, evaluate mounting, and collect data for application-specific validation thresholds.

The snippets use CAN bus 2 and device ID 0. Change both values to match the controller and sensor configuration.

Mounting example

Mount the sensor rigidly with an unobstructed view of the target.

Setup

Install the AndyMark WPILib vendor library before using these examples. See Device API for all available methods.

Java

import com.andymark.jni.AM_CAN_Lidar;
import com.andymark.jni.AM_CAN_Lidar.AM_LidarData;
import com.andymark.jni.AM_CAN_Lidar.AM_LidarDebugData;
import edu.wpi.first.wpilibj.smartdashboard.SmartDashboard;

// CAN bus 2, device ID 0
AM_CAN_Lidar myLidar = new AM_CAN_Lidar(2, 0);

// Restore the default 50 ms report period.
myLidar.resetReportPeriod();

AM_LidarData data = myLidar.getData();
AM_LidarDebugData debug = myLidar.getDebugData();

SmartDashboard.putNumber("Lidar/DistanceMm", data.distanceMm);
SmartDashboard.putNumber("Lidar/Status", data.status);
SmartDashboard.putNumber("Lidar/Flags", data.flags);
SmartDashboard.putNumber("Lidar/TimestampMs", data.millisStamp);
SmartDashboard.putNumber(
    "LidarDebug/PeakSignalCentiMcps",
    debug.peakSignalCentiMcps
);
SmartDashboard.putNumber(
    "LidarDebug/AmbientCentiMcps",
    debug.ambientCentiMcps
);
SmartDashboard.putNumber(
    "LidarDebug/TimestampMs",
    debug.millisStamp
);

C++

#include "AM_CAN_Lidar.h"
#include <frc/smartdashboard/SmartDashboard.h>

// CAN bus 2, device ID 0
AM_CANLidar myLidar{2, 0};

// Restore the default 50 ms report period.
myLidar.ResetReportPeriod();

AM_LidarData data = myLidar.GetData();
AM_LidarDebugData debug = myLidar.GetDebugData();

frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber("Lidar/DistanceMm", data.distanceMm);
frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber("Lidar/Status", data.status);
frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber("Lidar/Flags", data.flags);
frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber("Lidar/TimestampMs", data.millisStamp);
frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber(
    "LidarDebug/PeakSignalCentiMcps",
    debug.peakSignalCentiMcps
);
frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber(
    "LidarDebug/AmbientCentiMcps",
    debug.ambientCentiMcps
);
frc::SmartDashboard::PutNumber(
    "LidarDebug/TimestampMs",
    debug.millisStamp
);

Next steps

• Move the target through the full operating range.

• Compare status, peak signal, and ambient values under realistic lighting.

• Use the Validation page to establish acceptance criteria.

• Apply tuning only after recording baseline performance.