Software

ouster-ros

A ROS 2 driver that connects to Ouster lidar sensors, decodes their IMU and lidar packets, and publishes them as standard ROS messages.

Facts

GitHub stars: 211read on 6 Nov 2026
Last update: 24 Sept 2026Newest commit on ros2
Maintenance: Activea commit in the last 90 days
Difficulty: Intermediate
Hardware it needs, as the project states it: Runs on Linux with a ROS 2 distro (Rolling, Humble, Jazzy, Kilted or Lyrical); Windows and Mac are listed as TBD. Requires an Ouster sensor with FW v2.0 or later.

Checked on GitHub on 6 Nov 2026.

Code: BSD-3-Clause (opens in a new tab)
Read by Robotheca from LICENSE (opens in a new tab) at commit bbe9a89 (opens in a new tab), on 16 Oct 2026. A license text Robotheca's reader does not know: a person at Robotheca set it on 9 Nov 2026.
Commercial use: Yes

Configures and connects to a selected Ouster sensor (OS0, OS1, OS2, OSDome) on launch.
Publishes IMU data on /ouster/imu and point clouds on /ouster/points, with a second cloud on /ouster/points2 for dual-return.
Offers live sensor, recording, bag replay and PCAP replay launch modes.
Provides services to get metadata, get and set sensor config, and reset the sensor.
Includes an experimental multicast mode that sends sensor data to multiple clients.
Supports several point cloud types selectable via the point_type parameter.

Written by Robotheca from the project's README (opens in a new tab) at commit bbe9a89, not by its creator.

Facts read at commit bbe9a89

Robotheca never hosts the code: each link goes to the creator's own page.

How to install it, in the creator's words: The project's website (opens in a new tab)

Robotheca doesn't review code. Read it before running it.

Robotheca lists software as a reference: nothing is hosted or run here, and every fact links to where it was read.