RVIZ dockable panel plugins

rviz
plugin

asked 2012-09-06 08:44:48 -0600

khambuch
13 ●3 ●4 ●6

We're in the process of converting our robots over to ROS and in the process, I would like to move my operator interface into ROS. rViz fits the bill for what I need, but only if I have ways to customize (i.e. plugins). I've written a plugin for a dockable panel that seems to work, but when it receives ROS messages, rViz crashes. I've recreated the code in a test case, and it receives the messages just fine, but debugging through rViz is proving very difficult.

I'm wondering if I'm just running into some limitations of the plugin development relating to it not really being ready for prime time. Has anyone had success with these?

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fyi - I figured out my issue a while ago and forgot to update this posting. Thanks for all of the help.

khambuch ( 2012-11-01 09:47:58 -0600 )edit

fyi - I figured out my issue a while ago and forgot to update this posting.

khambuch ( 2012-11-01 09:47:59 -0600 )edit

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answered 2012-09-07 03:49:17 -0600

Thomas

4478 ●39 ●58 ●84 http://thomas.moulard.net/

I developed a plug-in displaying PoseWithCovariance/Odometry messages but I haven't heard yet of someone extending the panels yet. My answer would be: yes the API should work but it is still very new.

As the API is yet unstable, I would split my development in two, the robot operator interface low-level function/generic implementation and a smaller part dedicated to plug this into the rviz current API. And be prepared to see the second part breaks as the API changes or other GUI being developed...

Could you send a backtrace of your crash + your plug-in code so that one can determine if this is a real bug or not?

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answered 2012-10-04 12:06:04 -0600

Jakub
1821 ●11 ●18 ●19 http://www.roboticsinv...

Maybe you should check the rqt tool. It's still in quite early development but should suit better to what you want to achieve i.e. operator interface.

The tool is by definition a plugin based, and rviz itself could be one of the plugins to the tool.

Give it a try!

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answered 2012-10-04 11:07:06 -0600

hersh
1351 ●16 ●21 ●28

Which version of rviz are you using?

RViz does support plugins for dockable panels in the Fuerte release and in the upcoming Groovy version.

Definitely post more details and we can help you debug it. Both panel and display plugins in Fuerte should be workable. In Groovy rviz you can also make plugins for tools and for view controllers.

One comment I can make right off is that subclasses of rviz::Display are typically the ones which subscribe to ROS messages and then show 3D representations of that data in the central widget. Usually subclasses of rviz::Panel are showing GUI elements like buttons, sliders, and text fields and not particularly subscribing to ROS messages.

That said, there should be nothing in rviz which prevents a Panel from subscribing to messages and receiving them.

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