Setup Ubuntu network settings to Velodyne VLP-16 for ROS

After installing ROS (Robotic Operating System) and the Velodyne drivers and utilities on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the computer needs to be able to communicate with the Velodyne VLP-16 sensor unit.

Note: this post is specific to the VLP-16 unit but should be applicable to the other units, with some address changes.

By default, the IP address of the VLP-16 is set to be 192.168.1.201 by the factory. The network interface for the computer should be set to be on the same network, i.e. 192.168.1.77 for example, with the network masks at 255.255.255.255 and the gateway to be 192.168.1.255.

1. To set the Ubuntu network settings, click the network icon on the top left bar and choose Wired Settings in the pop down menu.
   
   
   
2. In the Settings dialog box, click the gear icon as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   The Wired dialog box appears.
   
   
3. Click the IPv4 tab. Toggle on the Manual IPv4 Method.
   
   
   
4. Type in the following address values, as shown below.
   
   
   
5. Scroll down. Type in the Routes (to the VLP-16) values as shown below.
   
   
   
   
6. Click Apply. If all the values are correct, Ubuntu should show you a Network connected status. Otherwise, recheck the values and try again.
   
7. Now to start ROS and run a sample Velodyne launch file, the following commands can be executed in separate terminals.
   
   
   $ roscore
   
   $ roslaunch velodyne_pointcloud VLP16_points.launch
   
   The VLP-16 /velodyne_points topic is published