README

Beluga Example

This package contains example launch files that demonstrate the use of Beluga-based nodes (e.g. Beluga AMCL) with external ROS bags or simulation software.

Examples

The following examples are easier to run in Beluga development containers.

1. Run an example application using a ROS bag.

   For ROS 2 distributions, run:

   cd /ws
   source install/setup.bash
   ros2 launch beluga_example perfect_odometry.launch.xml
   

   For ROS 1 distributions, run:

   cd /ws
   source devel*/setup.bash
   roslaunch beluga_example perfect_odometry.launch
   

2. Run an example application using a simulation and teleop controls.

   For ROS 2 distributions, in two separate terminals run:

   cd /ws
   source install/setup.bash
   ros2 launch beluga_example simulation.launch.xml
   

   ros2 run teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard
   

   For ROS 1 distributions, in two separate terminals run:

   cd /ws
   source devel*/setup.bash
   roslaunch beluga_example simulation.launch
   

   rosrun teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard
   

   Note that this example uses Flatland for simulation. A Flatland source installation is provisioned in development containers. You will have to provision one yourself to run this elsewhere.

3. Launch a localization node manually.

   For ROS 2 distributions, run:

   ros2 launch beluga_example localization_launch.py use_composition:=True localization_params_file:=<PARAMS_PATH> localization_map:=<MAP_YAML_PATH>
   

   For ROS 1 distributions, run:

   roslaunch beluga_example localization.launch localization_params_file:=<PARAMS_PATH> localization_map:=<MAP_YAML_PATH>
   

   The localization_params_file argument can be ommited if the default AMCL parameters are compatible with the robot.

4. Use RViz to visualize the localization output.

   For ROS 2 distributions, run:

   rviz2 -d $(ros2 pkg prefix --share beluga_example)/rviz/amcl.ros2.rviz
   

   For ROS 1 distributions, run:

   rviz -d $(rospack find beluga_example)/rviz/amcl.ros.rviz
   

   Quality of Service

   In ROS 2, when subscribing to the output topics from localization, we recommend the following QoS settings:

   Topic	Depth	History	Reliability	Durability
   map	5	Keep last	Reliable	Transient local
   particle_cloud	5	Keep last	Best effort	Volatile
   pose	5	Keep last	Reliable	Volatile