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robot_body_filter

Filters the robot's body out of point clouds and laser scans. It is based on robot_self_filter but it can do a lot more things.

Changes vs github.com/PR2/robot_self_filter

• Now the package is a normal filters::FilterBase filter and not a standalone node.

• Using both containment and ray-tracing tests.
• Using all collision elements for each link instead of only the first one.
• Enabling generic point type, removing PCL dependency and unnecessary params.
• Using bodies.h and shapes.h from geometric_shapes.
• As a by-product, the filter can compute robot's bounding box or sphere.

Video Tutorial

Check out the recording of webinar where most of the parameters of the filter are explained and demonstrated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0ljV0uZy3Q .

Filter Operation Preview

Basic Operation

filters::FilterBase API

The basic workings of this filter are done via the filters::FilterBase API implemented for sensor_msgs::LaserScan and sensor_msgs::PointCloud2 types. This means you can load this filter into a FilterChain along other filters as usual. Different from the standard filters, this one can also publish several interesting topics and subscribes to TF.

Subscribed Topics

• /tf, /tf_static

  • Transforms

• dynamic_robot_model_server/parameter_updates (dynamic_reconfigure/Config)

  • Dynamic reconfigure topic on which updated robot model can be subscribed. The model is read from a field defined by parameter body_model/dynamic_robot_description/field_name.

Published Topics

• scan_point_cloud_no_bbox (sensor_msgs/PointCloud2)

  • Point cloud with points inside body bounding box removed. Turned on by bounding_box/publish_cut_out_pointcloud parameter.

• scan_point_cloud_no_bsphere (sensor_msgs/PointCloud2)

  • Point cloud with points inside body bounding sphere removed. Turned on by bounding_sphere/publish_cut_out_pointcloud parameter.

• robot_bounding_sphere (robot_body_filter/SphereStamped)

  • Bounding sphere of the robot body. Turned on by bounding_sphere/compute parameter.

• robot_bounding_box (geometry_msgs/PolygonStamped)

  • Bounding box of the robot body. First point is the minimal point, second one is the maximal point. Turned on by bounding_box/compute parameter.

Provided Services

• ~reload_model (std_srvs/Trigger)

  • Call this service to re-read the URDF model from parameter server.

Filter Parameters

• sensor/point_by_point (bool, default: false for PointCloud2 version, true for LaserScan)

  • If true, suppose that every point in the scan was captured at a different time instant. Otherwise, the scan is assumed to be taken at once. If this is true, the processing pipeline expects the pointcloud to have fields int32 index, float32 stamps, and float32 vp_x, vp_y and vp_z viewpoint positions. If one of these fields is missing, computeMask() throws runtime exception.

• frames/fixed (string, default: "base_link")

  • The fixed frame. Usually base_link for stationary robots (or sensor frame if both robot and sensor are stationary). For mobile robots, it can be e.g. odom or map. Only needed for point-by-point scans.

• frames/sensor (string, default "laser")

  • Frame of the sensor. In LaserScan version, it has to match the frame_id of the incoming scans. In PointCloud2 version, the data can come in a different frame from frames/sensor.

• frames/filtering (string, default: for point-by-point scans, default is frames/fixed, otherwise frames/sensor)

  • Frame in which the filter is applied. For point-by-point scans, it has to be a fixed frame, otherwise, it can be the sensor frame or any other frame.

• frames/output (string, default: frames/filtering)

  • Frame into which output data are transformed. Only applicable in PointCloud2 version.

• sensor/min_distance (float, default: 0.0 m)

  • The minimum distance of points from the laser to keep them.

• sensor/max_distance (float, default: 0.0 m)

  • The maximum distance of points from the laser to keep them. Set to zero to disable this limit.

• body_model/inflation/scale (float, default 1.0)

  • A scale that is applied to the collision model for the purposes of collision checking.

• body_model/inflation/padding (float, default 0.0 m)

  • Padding to be added to the collision model for the purposes of collision checking.

• body_model/robot_description_param (string, default: "robot_description")

  • Name of the parameter where the robot model can be found.

• filter/keep_clouds_organized (bool, default true)

  • Whether to keep pointclouds organized (if they were). Organized cloud has height > 1.

• filter/model_pose_update_interval (float, default 0.0 s)

  • The interval between two consecutive model pose updates when processing a pointByPointScan. If set to zero, the model will be updated for each point separately (might be computationally exhaustive). If non-zero, it will only update the model once in this interval, which makes the masking algorithm a little bit less precise but more computationally affordable.

• filter/do_clipping (bool, default true)

  • If true, the filter will mark points outside sensor/(min|max)_distance as CLIP. If false, such points will be marked OUTSIDE.

• filter/do_contains_test (bool, default true)

  • If true, the filter will mark points inside robot body as INSIDE. If false, such points will be marked OUTSIDE.

• filter/do_shadow_test (bool, default true)

  • If true, the filter will mark points shadowed by robot body as SHADOW. If false, such points will be marked OUTSIDE.

• transforms/buffer_length (float, default 60.0 s)

  • Duration for which transforms will be stored in TF buffer.

• transforms/timeout/reachable (float, default 0.1 s)

  • How long to wait while getting reachable TF (i.e. transform which was previously available). Please note that this timeout is computed not from the lookup start time, but from the scan timestamp - this allows you to tell how old scans you still want to process.

• transforms/timeout/unreachable (float, default 0.2 s)

  • How long to wait while getting unreachable TF.

• bounding_sphere/compute (bool, default false)

  • Whether to compute and publish bounding sphere.

• bounding_box/compute (bool, default false)

  • Whether to compute and publish bounding box.

• bounding_sphere/publish_cut_out_pointcloud (bool, default false)

  • Whether to compute and publish pointcloud from which points in the bounding sphere are removed. Will be published on scan_point_cloud_no_bsphere. Implies bounding_box/compute.

• bounding_box/publish_cut_out_pointcloud (bool, default false)

  • Whether to compute and publish pointcloud from which points in the bounding box are removed. Will be published on scan_point_cloud_no_bbox. Implies bounding_sphere/compute.

• ignored_links/bounding_sphere (list[string], default [])

  • List of links to be ignored in bounding sphere computation. Can be either names of links or a combination of link name and collision index, e.g. link::1, or link name and collision name, e.g. link::my_collision.

• ignored_links/bounding_box (list[string], default [])

  • List of links to be ignored in bounding box computation. Same naming rules as above.

• ignored_links/contains_test (list[string], default [])

  • List of links to be ignored when testing if a point is inside robot body. Same naming rules as above.

• ignored_links/shadow_test (list[string], default ['laser'])

  • List of links to be ignored when testing if a point is shadowed by robot body. Same naming rules as above. It is essential that this list contains the sensor link - otherwise all points would be shadowed by the sensor itself.

• ignored_links/everywhere (list[string], default [])

  • List of links to be completely ignored. Same naming rules as above.

• only_links (list[string], default [])

  • If non-empty, only the specified links will be processed. The above-mentioned ignored_links/* filters will still be applied.

• body_model/dynamic_robot_description/field_name (string, default robot_model)

  • If robot model is published by dynamic reconfigure, this is the name of the Config message field which holds the robot model.

Debug Operation

These options are there to help correctly set up and debug the filter operation and should be turned off in production environments since they can degrade performance of the filter.

Published Topics

• robot_bounding_sphere_marker (visualization_msgs/Marker)

  • Marker of the bounding sphere of the robot body. Turned on by bounding_sphere/marker parameter.

• robot_bounding_box_marker (visualization_msgs/Marker)

  • Marker of the bounding box of the robot body. Turned on by bounding_box/marker parameter.

• robot_bounding_sphere_debug (visualization_msgs/MarkerArray)

  • Marker array containing the bounding sphere for each collision element. Turned on by bounding_sphere/debug parameter.

• robot_bounding_box_debug (visualization_msgs/MarkerArray)

  • Marker array containing the bounding box for each collision element. Turned on by bounding_box/debug parameter.

• robot_model_for_contains_test (visualization_msgs/MarkerArray)

  • Marker array containing the exact robot model used for contains tests. Turned on by debug/marker/contains parameter.

• robot_model_for_shadow_test (visualization_msgs/MarkerArray)

  • Marker array containing the exact robot model used for shadow tests. Turned on by debug/marker/shadow parameter.

• scan_point_cloud_inside (sensor_msgs/PointCloud2)

  • Debugging pointcloud with points classified as INSIDE. Turned on by debug/pcl/inside parameter.

• scan_point_cloud_clip (sensor_msgs/PointCloud2)

  • Debugging pointcloud with points classified as CLIP. Turned on by debug/pcl/clip parameter.

• scan_point_cloud_shadow (sensor_msgs/PointCloud2)

  • Debugging pointcloud with points classified as SHADOW. Turned on by debug/pcl/shadow parameter.

Filter Parameters

• bounding_sphere/debug (bool, default false)

  • Whether to compute and publish debug bounding spheres (marker array of spheres for each collision).

• bounding_box/debug (bool, default false)

  • Whether to compute and publish debug bounding boxes (marker array of boxes for each collision).

• debug/pcl/inside (bool, default false)

  • Whether to publish debugging pointcloud with points marked as INSIDE.

• debug/pcl/clip (bool, default false)

  • Whether to publish debugging pointcloud with points marked as CLIP.

• debug/pcl/shadow (bool, default false)

  • Whether to publish debugging pointcloud with points marked as SHADOW.

• debug/marker/contains (bool, default false)

  • Whether to publish debugging marker array containing the exact robot body model used for containment test.

• debug/marker/shadow (bool, default false)

  • Whether to publish debugging marker array containing the exact robot body model used for shadow test.