Changelog

Version 1.0

The first public release.

Streaming

• Live streaming of Slamtec RPLIDAR data into Houdini as SOP geometry.
• Standard and Express scan modes.
• Background reader thread, so no rotations are dropped between cooks.
• Self-contained single asset file, with no Python packages to install.
• Auto-detection of the CP210x USB adapter, with a manual Port override.
• Units per Meter control.

Recording & playback

• Record the live stream to disk and replay it against the playbar.
• Recording folder management — directory, file picker, loop and delete.

Visualization

• Sensor marker and range-ring guides.
• Connect Points — draw a ray from the sensor to each scan point.
• Static map bake.
• Attribute colour — tint the scan points by angle or distance through a ramp.

Blob tracking

• Cluster the scan into blobs and track them across frames, each with a stable id and a velocity.
• Single and Multi tracking modes.
• Background subtraction.
• Clustering, smoothing and association controls.
• Solver Output switch — the full scan cloud or just the tracked blob points.
• On-screen blob markers with velocity lines.

Placement, crop & camera

• Pre-Rotate, applied before everything else.
• Cull scan points outside a rotatable ground rectangle.
• Interactive viewport handle for the crop box.
• One-click top-down orthographic camera, plus Camera to Crop.

Live simulation

• Create Generic POP Network — one button builds a POP network wired to the solver-ready output.
• Recipes — a loader for whole downstream networks packed as a single file.
• Two outputs — Points & Guides, and Points.

Test Sensor

• Prints the sensor's identity, health and scan modes to the console, plus live stream statistics.

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