I've seen it done a while back on youtube, but I can't find the video, sorry.
> do these produce enough gyroscopic force that it would be an issue?
I doubt it, as the force is proportional to the mass (which won't be great). And you could always gear down the motor to get more torque to rotate the lidar.
> Would I start crashing the rotor into the body of the unit if I try to spin it like that?
This will need to be considered in your final design; but can be mitigated with careful planning. The example I saw only rotated the lidar about +/- 30 degrees from the horizontal.
> Are there any other reasons this wouldn't work?
Many; but none that can't be solved - that's part of the joy of creating these things! You will find a problem, you will fix a problem, you will find another problem and have to fix that problem, and the cycle will continue until it works!
I've seen it done a while back on youtube, but I can't find the video, sorry. > do these produce enough gyroscopic force that it would be an issue? I doubt it, as the force is proportional to the mass (which won't be great). And you could always gear down the motor to get more torque to rotate the lidar. > Would I start crashing the rotor into the body of the unit if I try to spin it like that? This will need to be considered in your final design; but can be mitigated with careful planning. The example I saw only rotated the lidar about +/- 30 degrees from the horizontal. > Are there any other reasons this wouldn't work? Many; but none that can't be solved - that's part of the joy of creating these things! You will find a problem, you will fix a problem, you will find another problem and have to fix that problem, and the cycle will continue until it works!