[ros-users] unreliable height estimation with Hokuyo UTM-30LX laser due to smoothing?

[Felix Ruess]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to use the Hokuyo UTM-30LX laser for height
estimation by redirecting some beams with small mirrors. The setup is
similar to the one used in
http://www.ros.org/wiki/laser_height_estimation
The problem I'm having is that it seems like the Hokuyo
smooths/filters the data and I can't get reliable measurements. It
works up to approx. 50cm, for higher distance the few redirected beams
seem to be smoothed out again.
Apparently the URG-04LX can be switched to a high sensitivity mode,
which supposedly mitigates such problems, but it seems this is not
possible on the UTM-30LX.

Has anyone use a Hokuyo UTM-30LX for something like this and
experienced the same problems?
Any ideas on how to improve it?

Cheers, Felix