isaac_ros_data_recorder

Source code on GitHub.

Overview

The isaac_ros_data_recorder package enables recording data from the Nova sensor set. Data is recorded as an MCAP file with messages serialized in CDR format. Camera streams are encoded in H.264 to reduce storage footprint. For more information on recording data in ROS 2, refer to the documentation for rosbag2.

Quickstart

Set Up Development Environment

1. Set up your development environment by following the instructions in getting started.

2. Clone isaac_ros_common under ${ISAAC_ROS_WS}/src.

   cd ${ISAAC_ROS_WS}/src && \
      git clone https://github.com/NVIDIA-ISAAC-ROS/isaac_ros_common.git
   

3. (Optional) Install dependencies for any sensors you want to use by following the sensor-specific guides.

   Warning

   We strongly recommend installing all sensor dependencies before starting any quickstarts. Some sensor dependencies require restarting the Isaac ROS Dev container during installation, which will interrupt the quickstart process.

3. Create additional mounts for the Docker container.

   If the container is already running, stop it with:

   docker rm -f isaac_ros_dev-aarch64-container
   

   Create mounts for /etc/nova and /mnt/nova_ssd/recordings:

   echo $'-v /etc/nova:/etc/nova\n-v /mnt/nova_ssd/recordings:/mnt/nova_ssd/recordings' > ${ISAAC_ROS_WS}/src/isaac_ros_common/scripts/.isaac_ros_dev-dockerargs
   

Build isaac_ros_data_recorder

Binary PackageBuild from Source

1. Launch the Docker container using the run_dev.sh script:

   cd ${ISAAC_ROS_WS}/src/isaac_ros_common && \
   ./scripts/run_dev.sh
   

2. Install the prebuilt Debian package:

   sudo apt-get install -y ros-humble-isaac-ros-data-recorder
   

Run Launch File

1. Continuing inside the Docker container, start data recording:

ros2 run isaac_ros_data_recorder record_data.sh

Use Ctrl+C to stop recording. By default, recordings will be stored in /mnt/nova_ssd/recordings.

2. (Optional) Run teleop.

   Follow Tutorial: Teleoperate the Robot with a Joystick to setup teleop. Then, launch the teleop app:

   ros2 launch nova_carter_bringup teleop_include.launch.py
   

Try More Examples

A sensor configuration file can be used to record a subset of sensors on the robot. For example, to record only the 4 stereo cameras:

ros2 run isaac_ros_data_recorder record_data.sh -y hawk-4.yaml

The following sensor configurations are provided. Custom sensor configurations are also supported.

Configuration File	Description
hawk-1.yaml	Front stereo camera with IMU.
hawk-2.yaml	Front and back stereo cameras with IMU.
hawk-3.yaml	Front, left, and right stereo cameras with IMU.
hawk-4.yaml	Front, left, right and back stereo cameras with IMU.
owl-1.yaml	Front fisheye camera.
owl-2.yaml	Front and back fisheye cameras.
owl-3.yaml	Front, left, and right fisheye cameras.
owl-4.yaml	Front, left, right, and back fisheye cameras.
hawk-1_owl-1.yaml	Front stereo and fisheye cameras.
hawk-1_owl-2.yaml	Front stereo camera and left and right fisheye cameras.
hawk-2_owl-2.yaml	Front and back stereo and fisheye cameras.
hawk-2_owl-4.yaml	Front and back stereo cameras and front, left, right, and back fisheye cameras.
hawk-4_owl-4.yaml	Front, left, right and back stereo and fisheye cameras.
nova-orin.yaml	Sensor configuration for Nova Orin.
nova-orin_hawk-4.yaml	Sensor configuration for Nova Orin without fisheye cameras or 2D lidar.
nova-carter.yaml	Sensor configuration for Nova Carter.
nova-carter_hawk-4.yaml	Sensor configuration for Nova Carter without fisheye cameras or 2D lidar.
nova-developer-kit.yaml	Sensor configuration for Nova Orin Developer Kit.

Troubleshooting

Isaac ROS Troubleshooting

For solutions to problems with Isaac ROS, see troubleshooting.

API

Usage

ros2 launch isaac_ros_data_recorder data_recorder.launch.py

ROS Launch Arguments

ROS Launch Argument	Default Value	Description
recording_dir	/mnt/nova_ssd/recordings	The directory in which to put the recording.
rosbag_name	rosbag2	The name of the folder which the rosbag is stored in.
config	/etc/nova/systeminfo.yaml	Sensor configuration file.

ROS Topics Subscribed

ROS Topic	Interface	Description
/rosout	rcl_interfaces/msg/Log	Console logs.
/tf	tf2_msgs/msg/TFMessage	Movable transforms on the robot.
/tf_static	tf2_msgs/msg/TFMessage	Fixed transforms on the robot.
/front_stereo_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Front stereo camera left camera stream.
/front_stereo_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Front stereo camera left camera intrinsics.
/front_stereo_camera/right/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Front stereo camera right camera stream.
/front_stereo_camera/right/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Front stereo camera right camera intrinsics.
/back_stereo_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Back stereo camera left camera stream.
/back_stereo_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Back stereo camera left camera intrinsics.
/back_stereo_camera/right/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Back stereo camera right camera stream.
/back_stereo_camera/right/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Back stereo camera right camera intrinsics.
/left_stereo_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Left stereo camera left camera stream.
/left_stereo_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Left stereo camera left camera intrinsics.
/left_stereo_camera/right/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Left stereo camera right camera stream.
/left_stereo_camera/right/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Left stereo camera right camera intrinsics.
/right_stereo_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Right stereo camera left camera stream.
/right_stereo_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Right stereo camera left camera intrinsics.
/right_stereo_camera/right/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Right stereo camera right camera stream.
/right_stereo_camera/right/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Right stereo camera right camera intrinsics.
/front_fisheye_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Front fisheye camera stream.
/front_fisheye_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Front fisheye camera intrinsics.
/back_fisheye_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Back fisheye camera stream.
/back_fisheye_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Back fisheye camera intrinsics.
/left_fisheye_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Left fisheye camera stream.
/left_fisheye_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Left fisheye camera intrinsics.
/right_fisheye_camera/left/image_compressed	sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage	Right fisheye camera stream.
/right_fisheye_camera/left/camera_info	sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo	Right fisheye camera intrinsics.
/front_2d_lidar/scan	sensor_msgs/msg/LaserScan	Front 2D lidar scan.
/back_2d_lidar/scan	sensor_msgs/msg/LaserScan	Back 2D lidar scan.
/front_3d_lidar/lidar_packets	hesai_ros_driver/msg/UdpFrame	Front 3D lidar UDP packets.
/front_stereo_imu/imu	sensor_msgs/msg/Imu	Front stereo camera inertial measurement unit.
/chassis/imu	sensor_msgs/msg/Imu	Chassis inertial measurement unit.
/chassis/ticks	isaac_ros_nova_interfaces/msg/EncoderTicks	Chassis encoder count.
/chassis/odom	nav_msgs/msg/Odometry	Chassis odometry.
/chassis/battery_state	sensor_msgs/msg/BatteryState	Chassis battery state.