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Navigation stack sensor sources

asked 2012-08-20 15:52:44 -0600

moyashi gravatar image

Hi, I'm studying the navigation stack.
My question is, Will PointCloud Message be converted to LaserScan Mesassge?

In wiki, it's said that it accepts sensor data published using
either the sensor_msgs/LaserScan Message type or the sensor_msgs/PointCloud Message type.
However, in turtlebot_bringup, PointCloud Message is apparently converted to LaserScan Message
using pointcloud_to_laserscan package.

Then, does the above mean that
it accepts both Messages because PointCloud Message can be converted to LaserScan Message?
Only when building maps, will PointCloud Message be converted?

Thanks in advance.

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answered 2012-08-20 22:46:29 -0600

Lorenz gravatar image

The navigation costmaps used in the nav stack work on both, point clouds and laser scans. I guess using big point clouds produced by e.g. the kinect can slow down the costmaps because lots of points have to be added at a pretty high rate. That might be the reason for using laser scans generated from point clouds instead of using the complete point cloud although it definitely contains more information.

Nodes for localization and map building, e.g. amcl and gmapping, need laser scans however.

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Asked: 2012-08-20 15:52:44 -0600

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Last updated: Aug 20 '12