Sensor Configuration

The Ouster SDK provides a powerful and flexible way to discover, inspect, and configure your Ouster sensors. This section of the documentation guides you through the process of adjusting a sensor’s mutable settings (sensor_config) and understanding its immutable properties (sensor_info).

Whether you need to optimize performance, manage network bandwidth, or ensure precise timing, the SDK gives you full control over your sensor’s operational parameters.

Key Capabilities

  • Runtime Configuration: Dynamically adjust key parameters like returns profile, lidar mode, and azimuth window.

  • Performance Tuning: Optimize data rate and network bandwidth by reducing returns or narrowing the field of view.

  • Synchronization: Seamlessly switch between internal, PTP, and GPS timing sources for multi-sensor precision.

  • Network Control: Redirect data streams by updating UDP destination IPs and ports.

  • Transient vs. Persistent Changes: Apply changes temporarily for testing, then persist them to memory to survive a reboot.

Best Practices

  • Read before editing: Fetch the current sensor_config first and change only the fields you specifically need to update.

  • Test transiently, then persist: Apply updates without persistence, confirm the behavior, and persist only when you are satisfied.

  • Refresh metadata: Call get_sensor_info() after changing returns, lidar mode, or azimuth_window so downstream code uses the correct layout.

  • Confirm external sync: Ensure a PTP lock or GPS pulse is present before switching timing sources in production.

Key Tunable Parameters

  • Returns profile & lidar mode: Primary controls for balancing vertical resolution against packet bandwidth.

  • azimuth_window: Narrows the horizontal field of view to trim data rate or focus on a region of interest.

  • UDP destination (udp_dest_host, lidar_port, imu_port): Routes lidar and IMU packets to the proper host/ports.

  • Timing source: Selects between internal clock, PTP 1588, or GPS for multi-sensor synchronization.