Voyant Pre-packaged Tools

The voyant-api package includes several command-line tools to help you work with Voyant LiDAR sensors. These tools are installed system-wide (or in the provided docker container) and are available in your PATH after installation.

Available Tools

Pro Tip: All Voyant tools begin with the prefix voyant_. You can discover available tools by typing voyant_ in your terminal and pressing Tab for auto-completion.

Core Workflow Tools

voyant_foxglove_bridge - Connect live sensor data streams to Foxglove Studio for real-time visualization
voyant_lidar_client - Configure and control your Voyant LiDAR device through its HTTP interface
voyant_logger_binary - Record sensor data to binary format file (recommended for preserving native data)

Playback & Analysis Tools

voyant_playback_check - Validate recorded data integrity and display frame metadata
voyant_playback_foxglove - Replay recorded data in Foxglove Studio for visualization and analysis

Data Conversion Tools

voyant_bin_to_csv - Convert binary logged point clouds to CSV format for data analysis

Utilities & Development Tools

voyant_hello_world - Simple example application to verify installation
voyant_ip_client - Configure custom IP addresses for Voyant LiDAR devices
voyant_points_mock_stream - Generate mock point cloud data for testing without a physical sensor
voyant_points_receiver_check - Debug tool to verify data stream reception and print basic frame metadata

Unsupported Tools

voyant_csv_to_bin & voyant_logger_mcap - Legacy/experimental tools with limited support

Getting Help

Each tool includes built-in help documentation. To see usage instructions, command-line options, and examples, use the --help flag:

voyant_foxglove_bridge --help

And you will see:

Usage: voyant_foxglove_bridge [OPTIONS] --bind-addr <BIND_ADDR> --group-addr <GROUP_ADDR>

Options:
  -k, --keep-invalid-points
          Keep invalid points in the assembled point cloud
      --ws-port <WS_PORT>
          Foxglove WebSocket port [default: 8765]
      --check-interval <CHECK_INTERVAL>
          Interval in milliseconds between checks for new frames [default: 10]
      --bind-addr <BIND_ADDR>
          Local address to bind to (e.g., "0.0.0.0:4444") Must use the same port that multicast senders are targeting
      --group-addr <GROUP_ADDR>
          Multicast group address to join (e.g., "224.0.0.0") Must be in the valid multicast range (224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255)
      --interface-addr <INTERFACE_ADDR>
          Local interface IP address to use for the multicast group Use "0.0.0.0" to use the default interface, or specify a particular interface IP [default: 0.0.0.0]
  -h, --help
          Print help
  -V, --version
          Print version

This shows you can run with the following, if you want to change the default foxglove websocket port and specify all addresses for the multicast connection:

voyant_foxglove_bridge --ws-port 1234 --bind-addr 0.0.0.0:4444 --group-addr 224.0.0.0 --interface-addr 127.0.0.1

Next Steps

After familiarizing yourself with these tools, check out the examples to learn how to integrate Voyant sensors into your own applications.