High-resolution raw Radar data, along with it’s nanosecond timing detail, is now published as a dedicated ROS node, along with a configurable laser scan topic, two variants of pointcloud topics, and a 2D image representation of the raw radar data. Below these illustrations presenting radar data through the ROS visualisation tool RVIZ, there is a detailed summary of the ROS2 implementation provided by Navtech Radar, which is available for download at https://bitbucket.org/navtechradar/iasdk-public/src/master/ros/ros2/.

Quick link to install instructions for ROS2 drivers in Ubuntu 2022: Link

Navtech ROS2 Examples

The Navtech ROS2 Driver repository contains examples of ROS2 publishers and subscribers, which interface with RTSP cameras and Navtech Radar. Both basic and complete examples are provided which allow simple publishing of data, simple subscribing to data, and also immediate viewing of radar/camera data, using the ROS2 visualisation tool, RVIZ. The Navtech ROS2 driver is dependent on the Navtech SDK.

Please see lower level README.md files, for more specific information on the ROS project folders.

Navtech SDK Requirements

C++ 17

The ROS2 folder contains the ROS2 project files, for the publishers and subscribers, as detailed above.

C++17 Compiler
Install with the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install gcc-9 gcc-9-base gcc-9-doc g++-9
sudo apt install libstdc++-9-dev libstdc++-9-doc

GCC 9.x and above
Install with the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gcc-9

Clang 10 and above
Install with the following command:

sudo apt-get install clang-10

Linux Requirements

To use the shell scripts provided in the 'utility scripts' folder we require bash on Ubuntu. First you must execute:

ROS2 Requirements

As above and:
ROS2 Humble Hawksbill Geoclone - CPP and Python bindings
ROS2 Humble installations are accessible here: https://docs.ros.org/en/humble/Installation.html

Python Requirements

Python3.0+

Numpy 1.17.4
This can be installed with the following command:

OpenCV Requirements

OpenCV 4.5.3 - CPP and Python bindings
Installation instructions here: https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/view/svn/general/opencv.html

FFMPEG Requirements

ffmpeg version 4.2.4-1ubuntu0.1
- Can be installed with the following command:

License

The ROS2 driver which is released under The MIT License (MIT).
See https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT for full license details.

ROS2 Packages

To use ROS commands, ROS2 must first be sourced using:

Note - this must be done in every new terminal
Alternatively, make this permanent by adding to your bash file:

This will source ROS for every newly opened terminal window

All ROS2 packages must be built and installed before being run
Build with:

Install with:

Packages can be run like so:

For example:

Packages can be run with their corresponding parameter files like so:

For example:

camera_ros

This folder contains examples based on a connection to an RTSP camera stream. Examples include conencting to and reading camera images, publishing camera images, subscribing to camera images, and saving camera iamges to a video file. Sample config file(s) are also included in the 'config' directory.

See the README.md under 'camera_ros', for more detailed instructions

launch_ros

This folder contains launch files which are intended to receive and display data with ease. The launch files will launch the required ros nodes, transform(s) and UI (RVIZ) to display data reived from a RTSP camera or Navtech Radar. The Launch files also use configuration files which contain the default settings for the examples.

See the README.md under 'launch_ros', for more detailed instructions

messages

Contains the custom message types used within the ROS2 Navtech driver - this includes camera messages and Navtech radar messages.

See the README.md under 'messages', for more detailed instructions

nav_radar

This folder contains examples based on a connection to a Navtech radar. Examples include conencting to and reading radar data, publishing radar data and images, subscribing to radar data and images, and saving radar iamges to a video file. Sample config file(s) are also included in the 'config' directory.

See the README.md under 'nav_radar', for more detailed instructions

rviz_views

Contains rviz view configuration files used to quickly visualise data output from the above packages. These view configuration files are used by the launch files.

See the README.md under 'rviz_views', for more detailed instructions

ROS2 Example install procedure

Update Ubuntu 22.04

Install IASDK prerequisites

Install ROS2 prerequisites

Install ROS2

Check install by running examples

check that the talker and listener are connected, and messages are being exchanged

Install OpenCV

Check OpenCV is installed

check that version >=4.5.3 is reported

Install the Navtech Radar IASDK

Install Colcon (the ROS2 build tool)

verify that the file iasdk-public/cpp/cpp_17/src/CMakeLists.txt contains the following section:

and then continue

Check the above command does not produce any errors.

Apply some patches:

Copy the contents of the provided patch folder "nav_radar" to replace ~/iasdk-public/ros/ros2/src/nav_radar

	File	Modified
Labels No labels Preview View	File nav_radar.7z	May 08, 2024 by John Marshall

Build the ROS2 IASDK packges

verify that the file iasdk-public/ros/ros2/src/nav_radar/CMakeLists.txt contains the following section:

and then continue

Common errors and solutions

Ros executables cannot be found after build and execution attempt

Run the following to source the newly build executables

Unable to launch RVIZ due to missing library (libQt5Core.so.5)

Run the following to source the newly build executables

In short - the above command removes a piece of code which is looking for something (renameat2 system call) that does not exist in kernels < 3.15

# Debian package build instructions for Navtech ROS2 SDK

## Install the protobuf compiler

## Install the build tools

## Build and install the ROS packages

## Create YAML to point towards custom ROS packages

Create a yaml file (in the workspace containing the packages, for example) specifying the local packages. Example of yaml content:

(Add an entry for all required packages)

nav_messages:

ubuntu: [nav-messages]

## Create a file in the rosdep sources folder

Add to this file the absolute path of the .yaml file created earlier. Example:

yaml file:///absolute_path_to_local_rosdep_file_list.yaml

## Update the ros dependencies

## Check if the new rosdep packages lists are being correctly found using:

## Now build the debian packages

Edit the file "control" and change package name from ros-humble-nav-messages to nav-messages

This should build a .deb package called nav_messages, in iasdk-public/ros/ros2/src

cd to the next ros2 package root and repeat the above steps

# Install debian packages and check ROS can find them

Note - nav_messages package must be installed first, and nav_launch package must be installed after nav_camera and nav_radar.

This is due to packages being dependent on other pacakges

Repeat the above for all Navtech ROS packages that you require

## Check ROS can find an installed package

The above should show the location of the installed package. Example: /opt/ros/humble