Can a driver for an older version of ROS (applanix driver for Fuerte) work wit indigo?

applanix

asked 2015-10-08 13:01:58 -0500

PeteMakesThings
40 ●5 ●6 ●9

updated 2015-10-13 13:25:21 -0500

I'm very new to ROS. I'm trying to use an Applanix IMU, I found the driver package for ROS described here:

http://wiki.ros.org/applanix_driver

The team I've joined is using Indigo, but this driver only goes up to Fuerte. Is it practical to try to use this driver for Indigo? I'm not sure where to start. Would I need recompiled source, or is it something simpler than that?

Thanks!

Edit: I've now cloned a copy of the Hydro version and built it. Now I'm stuck on the step that says: " roslaunch applanix_launch example.launch " The only launch file I got was applanix_bridge.launch, and that seems to be a sort of adapter between applanix messages and ros. Is there something I need to add to the catkin_make command, or something else to import to get the example?

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answered 2015-10-09 02:52:54 -0500

gvdhoorn
86574 ●283 ●1432 ●1054 http://cor.tudelft.nl/

updated 2015-10-18 05:40:11 -0500

Is it practical to try to use this driver for Indigo?

in my opinion that depends on the effort required to get it to run (ie: update it) versus the amount of time you'd spend creating something new. In almost all cases, starting with something existing will be faster (but this does depend on the quality of what you're starting with).

I'm not sure where to start. Would I need recompiled source, or is it something simpler than that?

Looking at the page you linked, and then following that to the GitHub repository, it would seem that driver has already been updated to work with Hydro (it has also been released as binaries on Hydro: see the wiki page (it has the ✓ released badge) and debbuild/hydro.html?q=applanix).

The changes between Hydro and Indigo aren't too great, so I'd expect that package to work on Indigo as well. You'll want to clone the repository to your own catkin_ws/src and then build it.

There could be some outstanding issues, so make sure to check the issue tracker.

PS: what made you think the driver was only compatible with Fuerte?

Edit:

I've now cloned a copy of the Hydro version and built it. Now I'm stuck on the step that says: " roslaunch applanix_launch example.launch " The only launch file I got was applanix_bridge.launch, and that seems to be a sort of adapter between applanix messages and ros. Is there something I need to add to the catkin_make command, or something else to import to get the example?

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say: the nodes in applanix_driver essentially only provide an interface to the hardware. What did you expect the package to do it isn't doing now?

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The page mentions Fuerte and Electric, it looked like Fuerte was the most recent so I assumed that would be the most likely candidate for an update. I didn't realise I could get the latest from the github repo. This is a different toolset than I'm used to, but I'm working on learning it. Thanks!

PeteMakesThings ( 2015-10-09 11:52:14 -0500 )edit

Ah, now I see what you mean. That is confusing indeed. Always look at the Package Summary at the top of the page. The version rocker (buttons) allow you to switch between versions. The badges will give you an indication of the pkg's state (released, documented, etc).

gvdhoorn ( 2015-10-09 12:11:05 -0500 )edit

I've updated the page to show ROS version specific installation instructions. You'll still have to install from sources on Indigo and newer though.

gvdhoorn ( 2015-10-09 12:30:42 -0500 )edit

Thanks for the help and the update. Since I'm used to visual studio and windows it took me a while to get through your suggestions, had to learn what "clone to..." meant and that I had to run catkin_make and roslaunch. (edited in accordance with your comment below)

PeteMakesThings ( 2015-10-13 13:05:27 -0500 )edit

If this is a new (separate) issue: please open a new question. If not, please update your original question with the new info. Use the edit button/link for that.

gvdhoorn ( 2015-10-13 13:06:53 -0500 )edit

If you're running into dependency issues (ie: headers or libraries not found), don't forget to first install all dependencies using something like rosdep install --from-paths /path/to/your/catkin_ws --ignore-src.

gvdhoorn ( 2015-10-13 13:20:54 -0500 )edit

Re:edit- I see what you mean. I am just learning ROS so now that I understand how it uses publishers and subscribers I can see that once I start applanix_bridge and publish_tf the topics are there to use. I was expecting some sort of app to display the data before I understood how it works. Thanks!

PeteMakesThings ( 2015-10-19 12:28:59 -0500 )edit

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Can a driver for an older version of ROS (applanix driver for Fuerte) work wit indigo?

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