Blue Robotics Sonar ROS 2 Package

This ROS 2 package provides drivers for the Blue Robotics Ping 1D altimeter and the Ping 360 scanning sonar. It includes nodes for interfacing with the hardware and visualizing the data.

Ping 1D and Ping 360 Sonar Data

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Table of Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Launch Files
  • ping1d.launch.py
  • ping360.launch.py
• Nodes
  • ping1d
  • ping1d_imager
  • ping360
  • ping360_imager
• License

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Overview

This package contains four main nodes:

• ping1d and ping360: Driver nodes that interface with the sonar hardware. They capture raw sonar data and publish it as a ROS 2 message.

• ping1d_imager and ping360_imager: Processing nodes that subscribe to the raw sonar data, convert it into a waterfall image for the Ping 1D and a polar image for the Ping 360. The imagers either publish the image on a new topic or save it to a video file. This node can also process data from a ROS 2 bag file.

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Installation

To install the Blue Robotics Sonar ROS2 package, install Blue Robotics ping-python package, clone this repository into your ROS 2 workspace, and build it using colcon:

# Install ping-python
git clone https://github.com/bluerobotics/ping-python.git -b deployment
cd ping-python
git checkout 3d41ddd
python3 setup.py install --user

# Install bluerobotics_sonar ROS2 package
cd ~/ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/itskalvik/bluerobotics_sonar.git
cd ~/ros2_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

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Launch Files

ping1d.launch.py

Launches the ping1d node to publish sonar data. The launch file can also be used to pass/configure all sonar settings.

Published Topic: /sonar/ping1d/data (bluerobotics_sonar_msgs/SonarPing1D)

Run Example:

ros2 launch bluerobotics_sonar ping1d.launch.py

Use the following command to upate the maximum range setting:

ros2 param set /ping1d scan_length:=<[0.3-100] double value>

ping360.launch.py

Launches the ping360 node to publish sonar data. The launch file can also be used to pass/configure all sonar settings.

Published Topics: /sonar/ping360/data (bluerobotics_sonar_msgs/Image)

Run Example:

ros2 launch bluerobotics_sonar ping360.launch.py

Use the following command to upate the maximum range setting:

ros2 param set /ping360 range:=<[0.75-50] double value>

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Nodes

ping1d

Description: Publishes sonar profiles from the Blue Robotics Ping1D.

Published Topic: /sonar/ping1d/data (bluerobotics_sonar_msgs/SonarPing1D)

Parameters: The parameters can be updated while running the node.

Name	Type	Default	Description
device	string	/dev/ttyUSB0	Serial port or UDP IP address
baudrate	int	115200	Baudrate for serial connection
gain_setting	int	0	Gain level [0–6]
mode_auto	int	0	Manual (0) or auto (1) mode
ping_enable	bool	true	Whether sonar is enabled
pings_per_second	int	30	Pings per second [1-50]; will be overridden by explicitly setting ping_interval
ping_interval	int	-1	Interval between pings (ms); ignored by default
scan_start	float	0.0	Minimum range (m) [0-99]
scan_length	float	1.0	Maximum range (m) [0.3-100]
speed_of_sound	int	1500	Speed of sound in water (m/s)
topic	string	/sonar/ping1d/data	Output topic
frame_id	string	ping1d	TF frame ID

Run Example:

ros2 run bluerobotics_sonar ping1d

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ping1d_imager

Description: Subscribes to Ping1D data and publishes a waterfall scan image.

Published Topic: /sonar/ping1d/image (sensor_msgs/Image)

Subscribed Topics: /sonar/ping1d/data

Parameters: The parameters can be updated while running the node.

Name	Type	Default	Description
data_topic	string	/sonar/ping1d/data	Input sonar data topic
image_topic	string	/sonar/ping1d/image	Output image topic
image_length	int	200	Width (in samples) of scroll image
bag_file	str		Optional path to an input ros2 bag file with sonar data
video_file	str		Optional path to an output mp4 video file

Run Example:

ros2 run bluerobotics_sonar ping1d_imager --ros-args -p data_topic:=/sonar/ping1d/data

Note that when reading from a bag file, the node will export the output to ping1d_sonar.mp4 video file by default.

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ping360

Description: Publishes sonar profiles from the Blue Robotics Ping360.

Published Topic: /sonar/ping360/data (bluerobotics_sonar_msgs/SonarPing360)

Parameters: The parameters can be updated while running the node.

Name	Type	Default	Description
device	string	/dev/ttyUSB0	Serial port or UDP IP address
baudrate	int	115200	Baudrate
mode	int	1	Scan mode (always 1)
gain_setting	int	0	Gain level [0–6]
transmit_frequency	int	750	Transmit frequency (kHz)
start_angle	int	0	Starting angle (Grads)
stop_angle	int	399	Stopping angle (Grads)
num_steps	int	1	Step size between angles
delay	int	0	An additional delay between successive transmit pulses [0-100 ms]
range	float	1.0	Scan range in meters [0.75-50]
motor_off	bool	false	If true, stops sonar
scan_threshold	int	100	Threshold for peak detection
offset	int	120	Number of samples to ignore in each sonar profile before peak detection
speed_of_sound	int	1500	Speed of sound in water (m/s)
topic	string	/sonar/ping360/data	Output topic
frame_id	string	ping360	TF frame ID

Run Example:

ros2 run bluerobotics_sonar ping360

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ping360_imager

Description: Converts Ping360 sonar data into a polar image and publishes it.

Published Topic: /sonar/ping360/image (sensor_msgs/Image)

Subscribed Topics: /sonar/ping360/data

Parameters: The parameters can be updated while running the node.

Name	Type	Default	Description
data_topic	string	/sonar/ping360/data	Input sonar data topic
image_topic	string	/sonar/ping360/image	Output image topic
rotation	float	0.0	Optional image rotation to match sonar mount
bag_file	str		Optional path to an input ros2 bag file with sonar data
video_file	str		Optional path to an output mp4 video file

Run Example:

ros2 run bluerobotics_sonar ping360_imager --ros-args -p data_topic:=/sonar/ping360/data

Note that when reading from a bag file, the node will export the output to ping360_sonar.mp4 video file by default.

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License

This package is licensed under the MIT License. See the top of each file or LICENSE for details.