Revision history [back]

This may be a limitation of the utm_odometry node. Looking at the hector_gazebo plugin, the covariance matrix is zeroed, but there is another element in the NavSatFix message called position_covariance_type that is set to sensor_msgs::NavSatFix::COVARIANCE_TYPE_UNKNOWN by the hector GPS plugin. There appears to be a discussion of this field here.

Looking at the source code of utm_odometry node appears to ignore this field and just examines the covariance matrix. The code can be found around line 54.