IRT C++/ROS 2 Depth Pressure Sensor Simulator

Author:

• Maximilian Nitsch m.nitsch@irt.rwth-aachen.de (Institute of Automatic Control - RWTH Aachen University)

Maintainer:

• Maximilian Nitsch m.nitsch@irt.rwth-aachen.de (Institute of Automatic Control - RWTH Aachen University)

Description

This project provides a high-fidelity depth pressure sensor (DEPTH) simulator written in C++.

The simulator implements the following features:

• Depth-pressure measurement simulation
• Full-scale accuracy simulation
• Full-scale resolution simulation
• Range simulation
• Static bias simulation (i.e. by atmospheric pressure)
• Pressure-to-depth conversion
• Stochastic noise
• All parameters can be configured in a YAML file
• All models and effects can be enabled/disabled separately

Example configurations for KELLER Series 10LHPX sensors are provided.

Table of Contents

• Dependencies
• Installation
• Usage
• ROS 2 Nodes
  • Publishers
  • Subscribers
• Coding Guidelines
• References
• Contributing
• License

Dependencies

This project depends on the following literature and libraries:

• Eigen3: Eigen is a C++ template library for linear algebra: Eigen website.
• ROS 2 Humble: ROS 2 is a set of software libraries and tools for building robot applications: ROS 2 Installation page).
• Navigation-Interfaces: Custom ROS 2 interfaces repository: Navigation-Interfaces.

Installation

To install the dpth_sensor_simulator_package, you need to follow these steps:

1. Install Eigen3: Eigen3 is a dependency for your package. You can install it using your package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can install it using the following command:

   sudo apt-get install libeigen3-dev

2. Install ROS 2 Humble: Ensure you have ROS 2 (Humble) installed. You can follow the official installation instructions provided by ROS 2. Visit ROS 2 Humble Installation page for detailed installation instructions tailored to your platform.

3. Clone the Package: Clone the package repository to your ROS 2 workspace. If you don't have a ROS 2 workspace yet, you can create one using the following commands:

   mkdir -p /path/to/ros2_workspace/src
   cd /path/to/ros2_workspace/src

   Now, clone the package repository:

   git clone <repository_url>

   Replace <repository_url> with the URL of your package repository.

4. Build the Package: Once the package is cloned, you must build it using colcon, the default build system for ROS 2. Navigate to your ROS 2 workspace and run the following command:

   cd /path/to/ros2_workspace
   colcon build

   This command will build all the packages in your workspace, including the newly added package.

5. Source the Workspace: After building the package, you need to source your ROS 2 workspace to make the package available in your ROS 2 environment. Run the following command:

   source /path/to/ros2_workspace/install/setup.bash

   Replace /path/to/ros2_workspace with the actual path to your ROS 2 workspace.

That's it! Your dpth_sensor_simulator_package should now be installed along with its dependencies and ready to use in your ROS 2 environment.

Usage

1. Configure your YAML file for your DEPTH sensor or use the default file.

2. Start the DEPTH sensor simulator with the launch file:

   ros2 launch dpth_sensor_simulator_package dpth_sensor_simulator.launch.py

The DEPTH sensor simulator prints your settings and waits for a ground truth odometry message.

3. Provide an odometry publisher from you vehicle simulation.

4. The DEPTH sensor values should now be published.

Important Usage Information:

• The odometry message must be published with at least the DEPTH sensor data rate/sample time.
• The message */diagnostic will show WARN if the odometry rate is lower.
• If no odometry message is published, the message */diagnostic will show STALE.
• If everything is correct, */diagnostic will show OK.

ROS 2 Nodes

The DEPTH sensor simulator node implements one publisher and subscribes to one topic.

Publishers

This node publishes the following topics:

Topic Name	Message Type	Description
*/depth_pressure	nanoauv_sensor_driver_interfaces/DepthPressure.msg	Publishes depth pressure sensor data.

Subscribers

This node subscribes to the following topics:

Topic Name	Message Type	Description
*/odometry	nav_msgs/Odometry.msg	Subscribes to ground truth vehicle odometry.

Coding Guidelines

This project follows these coding guidelines:

• https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html
• http://docs.ros.org/en/humble/The-ROS2-Project/Contributing/Code-Style-Language-Versions.html

References

The DEPTH simulator implementation closely follows the work:

• M. Nitsch, "Navigation of a miniaturized autonomous underwater vehicle exploring waters under ice," Dissertation, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, 2024. DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2024-05964.

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to the project, see the CONTRIBUTING file for details.

License

This project is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause License. Please look at the LICENSE file for details.