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Slamcore ROS 2 docker

Building

To build the docker image, invoke the following script on the same device the node will run. Select either foxy, galactic or humble as the ROS distribution using the --ros argument and make sure that you have downloaded the right Slamcore Debian packages for this version of ROS as well as for the architecture of the host system (x86 or Jetson). You will need to provide the slamcore-dev package which matches the chosen ROS 2 distribution, e.g. for humble you should use the jammy slamcore-dev package. The resulting docker image will be created with the tag provided by the --tag argument or otherwise default to slamcore-ros2.

./build.py ../path/to/slamcore_ros2_package.deb ../path/to/slamcore_dev_package.deb --ros foxy/galactic/humble [--tag image_tag]

Building with Panoptic Segmentation Support

Note - Panoptic Segmentation is currently only supported on ROS 2 Foxy and Galactic.

On platforms that support the panoptic segmentation plugin (currently only Nvidia Jetson platforms listed on docs.slamcore.com/requirements), you can provide the slamcore-panoptic-segmenation package using the --panoptic_path argument to build a docker image with GPU support.

./build.py ../path/to/slamcore_ros2_package.deb ../path/to/slamcore_dev_package.deb --panoptic_path ../path/to/slamcore_panoptic_segmentation_package.deb --ros foxy/galactic [--tag image_tag]

The machine learning model will be optimised for the current GPU during the build process, which can take up to 15 minutes. This will require a docker system set up with nvidia as the default runtime in /etc/docker/daemon.json:

"default-runtime": "nvidia"

The following is an example of how the added line appears in the JSON file. Do not remove any pre-existing content when making this change.

{
    "default-runtime": "nvidia",
    "runtimes": {
        "nvidia": {
            "path": "nvidia-container-runtime",
            "runtimeArgs": []
        }
    }
}

Note - remember to restart the docker service after any change to /etc/docker/daemon.json:

sudo systemctl restart docker

Running

SLAM node

The docker container will by default run the SLAM node. To start it just call:

docker run --rm -it --privileged slamcore-ros2

replace slamcore-ros2 with your custom image tag if you set one.

Note the --privileged flag, used to give access to host devices and allow for live-camera runs

The -it flag is required for the container to be run as a interactive process to be able to receive Ctrl-C commands

Arguments can be passed via the command line, to see available options, call:

docker run --rm -it --privileged slamcore-ros2 --show-args

If you would like to save the resulting session from the SLAM run, which can be later used for localisation mode, you will need to provide the --volume or -v flag, as well as the session_save_dir argument, when launching the container. This will allow you to save the file to the host machine when calling the /slamcore/save_session service from another terminal, as explained in the Calling a service section.

docker run --rm -it --privileged --volume /path/to/save/session:/output:rw slamcore-ros2 session_save_dir:=/output

Simply replace the /path/to/save/session above, with the absolute path to the directory where the session file should be saved on your host machine.

The --volume flag maps the host machine directory /path/to/save/session to the container directory /output - this is done by mounting the /path/to/save/session directory as /output inside the container. Therefore, when something is saved to the /output directory in the container, it will be saved to the provided path on the host machine and not lost when the container is shut down.

SLAM using a recorded dataset

To run with a dataset pass it to the docker container via the -v flag:

docker run --rm -it -v /absolute/path/to/dataset:/dataset:ro slamcore-ros2 dataset_path:=/dataset

replace slamcore-ros2 with your custom image tag if you set one and the /absolute/path/to/dataset (the absolute path to the dataset on the host machine) section when passing in the -v /absolute/path/to/dataset:/dataset flag.

Localisation Mode

In localisation mode, our system uses a previously created session map to localise. To load a session map, the --volume or -v flag with the path to the session file on the host machine (/absolute/path/to/file.session) needs to be provided:

docker run --rm -it --privileged -v /absolute/path/to/file.session:/sessions/file.session:ro slamcore-ros2 session_file:=/sessions/file.session

When the system is able to localise on the map, it will start publishing data to the topics.

Height Mapping Mode

In mapping mode, our system runs in SLAM mode but also generates a height map and an occupancy map which can be used in autonomous navigation.

To generate a height map, set the generate_map2d parameter to true and ensure the depth stream is enabled using the override_realsense_depth and realsense_depth_override_value parameters:

docker run --rm -it --privileged --volume /path/to/save/session:/output:rw slamcore-ros2 generate_map2d:=true override_realsense_depth:=true realsense_depth_override_value:=true session_save_dir:=/output

You will also need to provide the --volume flag along with the session_save_dir parameter as shown above if you want to save the session file containing the maps to your host machine. To save the session, you must trigger the /slamcore/save_session service, explained in the Calling a service section.

Alternative Nodes

Alternative nodes can be invoked by setting the SLAMCORE_MODE environment variable, valid options are:

  1. SLAM: run the default SLAM node
  2. DATASET_RECORDER: run the dataset recorder node
  3. BASH: run bash and source the ROS setup.bash script
  4. PASSTHROUGH: Run a custom user command inside the docker container

e.g:

docker run --rm -it --privileged --env SLAMCORE_MODE=DATASET_RECORDER slamcore-ros2 --show-args

or to run an interactive bash session and run nodes manually.

docker run --rm -it --privileged --env SLAMCORE_MODE=BASH slamcore-ros2

...

$ # You now have a console inside the container.
$ # You can e.g run SLAM,
$ ros2 launch slamcore_slam slam_publisher.launch.py
...

Recording a dataset

To record a dataset using the ROS 2 wrapper, invoke the following command, with the adjustments required for your setup:

docker run --rm -it --privileged --volume /path/to/save/dataset:/output:rw --env SLAMCORE_MODE=DATASET_RECORDER slamcore-ros2 output_dir:=/output/my_dataset

In the example above, --volume /path/to/save/dataset:/output maps the host directory /path/to/save/dataset to the directory /output inside the container. You can then use the output_dir argument to define the dataset path inside the container. The new directory /my_dataset inside the container will appear in your host machine under /path/to/save/dataset/my_dataset.

Subscribing to topics

Once the node is running it is possible to subscribe to the advertised topics in another docker container, for example:

docker run --rm -it --privileged --env SLAMCORE_MODE=PASSTHROUGH slamcore-ros2 ros2 topic echo /slamcore/pose

You can find more details on the available topics in our ROS 2 Wrapper Advertised Topics documentation section.

Calling a service

When the node is running, you can also call the available services in another docker container. For example the following command will allow you to save the session file from the current session:

docker run --rm -it --privileged --env SLAMCORE_MODE=PASSTHROUGH slamcore-ros2 ros2 service call /slamcore/save_session std_srvs/Trigger

To get the full list of available services. You can find more details on the available services in our ROS 2 Wrapper Advertised Services documentation section.

Visualising using RViz2

You can run another container with RViz2 to visualise the topics being published. A simple way to do this is by using a ros:<ROS_VERSION>-desktop image:

xhost +local:docker && docker run -it --network=host --privileged --env="DISPLAY" --env="QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1" --volume /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw osrf/ros:<ROS_VERSION>-desktop && xhost -local:docker

Replace <ROS_VERSION> with your chosen distribution: foxy, galactic or humble.

xhost +local:docker allows docker to access the X server to display graphics before launching the container and xhost -local:docker removes the permissions when exiting the container, for security.

The command above will bring up a ros:<ROS_VERSION>-desktop image which includes RViz2, so you can just run the following from inside the container to open RViz2:

rviz2