Getting a lidar into Houdini normally means writing serial code. The sensor speaks its own protocol over a COM port and nothing in Houdini reads it, so the usual route is a Python detour and a file on disk — a baking step, which is exactly what a live sensor cannot afford.

RPLidar In talks to the sensor itself. Plug in an RPLIDAR A2 and the scan arrives as points, live — there is no port to set, because it finds the adapter on its own. Guides draw the sensor and its range, a crop rectangle culls what you don’t care about, and a second output hands you solver-ready points with the guides stripped.

Built for TouchDesigner-style interactive work: someone walks past the sensor and their outline drives a POP or Vellum solver on screen, with nothing baked in between. Installations, performances, experiments in a room. It’s free.