Getting viso2_ros to work - visual odometry-

asked 2014-06-25 04:29:13 -0600

mister_kay
234 ●13 ●16 ●17

updated 2014-06-25 04:31:40 -0600

Hello,

there exists a c++ open-source visual odometry library called "LIBVISO2" (cvlibs.net/software/libviso/) which I would like to use in ROS. For the library there exists a ROS-package called "viso2_ros" which is a ROS-wrapper for the library.

I am totally new to LINUX and ROS. In Windows I use VS2010 and the Flycap drivers for the two Point Grey Flea3 "gigE cameras" making the stereo-visual odometry work (using LIBVISO2).

Now I finished the 20 ROS beginner tutorials but still am confused how to get started. Can you give me some tips regarding how to take the first steps?

Basically I need a tip how to

establish a camera node (with the Flea Linux drivers??) which will output images (I use a trigger)
rectify the images (I have all the parameters for initundistorstrectifymap from opencv)
use openCV in general
make my fist steps with viso2_ros

Thank You. All tips are well appreciated!

answered 2014-06-28 07:13:47 -0600

Miquel Massot

1471 ●7 ●17 ●33 http://srv.uib.es/

updated 2014-06-30 10:09:04 -0600

Hi mister_kay,

first of all, wellcome to the ROS comunity. In order to start with you application, I'd first take a look at what drivers are already available in ROS. If I'm not mistaken, ptgrey Flea3 admits IIDC protocol, so maybe you can use the camera1394 driver, or tweak it a little bit so that you can use it with your usb3 camera, even if it's not firewire. Take a look here.

Check that you can get your images published as ROS topics. Once that's been done, then the rectificacion can be done with the node image_proc. Once you get these two nodes on, calibrate the camera with the camera calibrator and you'll be ready to rock with opencv. If you prefer, you can also rectify the images from opencv directly. It's your call.

Then, finally, for viso2 and viso2_ros follow the example launchfile. Another way to test viso2 is to download our bagfile (there a link in the wiki, if not, download it from here) and launch the demo launchfile.

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Thank you very much Miquel! With your help I installed the Point Grey driver and can now display the imgs from my cameras (for some reason with a low frequ. in my virtual machine). Also the "roslaunch camera.launch" command created many topics. One question: Where can I find the example launchfile?

mister_kay ( 2014-07-01 05:45:36 -0600 )edit

In github you have the whole repo: https://github.com/srv/viso2 and the example launchfile: https://github.com/srv/viso2/blob/hydro/viso2_ros/launch/demo.launch.