Introduction

This package was designed to automatically remove outdated voxels from the original octomap.

We described our motivation and concept on our octomap-website - here you will also find two supportive videos. For further explanations, you may want to have a look at this workshop abstract.

Nodes

Our implementation of decay:

rosrun octomap_pa octree_stamped_pa_node

roslaunch octomap_pa octomap_stamped_pa.launch

The native implementation of decay by the original octomap package:

rosrun octomap_pa octree_stamped_native_node

roslaunch octomap_pa octomap_stamped_native.launch

Simple node without decay:

rosrun octomap_pa octree_pa_node

roslaunch octomap_pa octomap_pa.launch

Input and Output Topics

Topic Name	Type	Description
"~/in_cloud"	sensor_msgs/PointCloud2	Input as new pointcloud type.
"~/in_cloud_old"	sensor_msgs/PointCloud	Input as old pointloud type. Will be converted to new pointcloud type.
"~/in_laser"	sensor_msgs/LaserScan	Input as single laser scan. Will be converted to new pointcloud type by package "laser_geometry".
"~/out_octomap"	octomap_msgs/Octomap	Output of binary octomap - voxels are either free or occupied (smaller in size).
"~/out_octomap_full"	octomap_msgs/Octomap	Output of octomap (full size).
"~/out_cloud_free"	sensor_msgs/PointCloud2	Output of all free voxels as pointcloud.
"~/out_cloud_occupied"	sensor_msgs/PointCloud2	Output of all occupied voxels as pointcloud.

All topics can be remapped using parameters (see below).

Services

Service Name	Type	Description
"~/clear"	std_srvs/Empty	Deletes internal octomap.
"~/reset"	octomap_pa_msgs/Reset	Changes the resolution and the frame after clearing the internal octomap.
"~/getsize"	octomap_pa_msgs/GetSize	Returning number of nodes, total size in bytes and number of inserted measurments.
"~/save"	octomap_pa_msgs/FileName	Storing the current octomap as file - timestamps are not saved.
"~/load"	octomap_pa_msgs/FileName	Loading a octomap from file - timestamps are ignored.

Parameters

degrading of voxels

Parameter Name	Type	Description
"~/degrading_time"	double	Duration how long the outdated nodes will be kept.
"~/auto_degrading"	bool	Turns on automatic degrading.
"~/auto_degrading_intervall"	double	Intervall for automatic degrading.

pointcloud insertion

Parameter Name	Type	Description
"~/map_prob_hit"	double	Probability that a positive measurement relates to a occupied voxel.
"~/map_prob_miss"	double	Probability that a negative measurement relates to a occupied voxel.
"~/pcd_voxel_active"	bool	Use voxel-filter for pointcloud insertion.
"~/pcd_voxel_explicit"	bool	Use pcl-filter instead of octomap-filter.
"~/pcd_voxel_explicit_relative_resolution"	double	Relative resolution of pcl-filter.

octomap in general

Parameter Name	Type	Description
"~/output_frame"	string	Coordinate system for insertion and output.
"~/map_resolution"	double	Side length of one voxel (in meters).
"~/map_prob_threshold"	double	Threshold for binary evaluation of single voxels.
"~/map_clamp_min"	double	Lower clamping value of occupancy probability.
"~/map_clamp_max"	double	Upper clamping value of occupancy probability.

topics and services

Parameter Name	Type	Description
"~/topic_in_cloud"	string	Name of input topic for new pointclouds.
"~/topic_in_cloud_old"	string	Name of input topic for old pointclouds.
"~/topic_in_laser"	string	Name of input topic for laser scans.
"~/topic_out_octomap"	string	Name of output topic for binary octomap.
"~/topic_out_octomap_full"	string	Name of output topic for full octomap.
"~/topic_out_cload_free"	string	Name of output topic for free voxels.
"~/topic_out_cloud_occupied"	string	Name of output topic for occupied voxels.

See also this config file. It contains all parameters and their default value.

ROS Build-Status and Documentation

ROS-Distribution	Build-Status	Documentation
Indigo	EOL April 2019	docs.ros.org/indigo
Jade	EOL May 2017	docs.ros.org/jade
Kinetic	EOL April 2021	docs.ros.org/kinetic
Lunar	EOL May 2019	docs.ros.org/lunar
Melodic		docs.ros.org/melodic
Noetic		docs.ros.org/noetic