Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

NatNet, VRPN, TrackD, and Plugins
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Nemesis
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:00 am

Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by Nemesis »

Hi,

I am new to ROS and I am trying to understand how to stream data from Optitrack/Tracking Tools running on a computer (windows) to ROS running on Ubuntu on a virtual machine (Separate computer). I have had a lot of trouble trying to understand how to go about it mainly because I haven't found a single helpful documentation which is clear enough for a beginner like me.

Can anyone help me with this?

There are multiple ways I think, but right now I am trying to look into VRPN (ros_vrpn_client). Any guidance will be appreciated. Thank you.
NaturalPoint - Brent
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:40 pm

Re: Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by NaturalPoint - Brent »

Sj22,
I am going to ask around internally in our company and see if I can find an answer for you on this.

Brent
beckdo
Posts: 520
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:02 pm

Re: Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by beckdo »

Using VRPN is a great way to catch streamed rigid body data on a Linux box. Compile VRPN and our VRPN sample for Linux and you should be good to go.

VRPN is probably going to be your best bet because it's cross platform and our other streaming mechanisms have limited Linux support.
Nemesis
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:00 am

Re: Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by Nemesis »

For some reason I didn't get any notification for your replies. This is the procedure that I managed to understand and follow, and now it does give me the streaming data(coordinates). I am posting this so that others (if needed) can refer to this -

1. In the "workspace" folder that you generally create (given in ROS tutorials) I used the command "svn co gt-ros-pkg.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/hrl/ros_vrpn_client/" to get/download the ros_vrpn_client.

2. Now, using either "rosdep install ros_vrpn_client" or "rosmake ros_vrpn_client" I "built" the package (this is where I was confused, what exactly to use)

3. Just in case, I used the "source ~/workspace/setup.bash" command after building the package.

4. go to the ros_vrpn_client/ folder and execute the install_vrpn.sh file (command line -> go to folder containing file -> ./install_vrpn.sh )

5. Start streaming in Tracking Tools after creating the trackable.

6. run "roscore" and in a separate terminal run the command given on the ros_vrpn_client wiki page (to run the node).

7. use "rostopic echo /Tracker/pose" command to display the current coordinates.

where Tracker is the name of the trackable defined in Tracking Tools.
NaturalPoint - Brent
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 12:40 pm

Re: Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by NaturalPoint - Brent »

Sj22,
Thank you for adding the information!
That is very helpful for other users.

Brent
Saha_S
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 12:50 pm

Re: Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by Saha_S »

Hey Sj22,

So I'm trying to setup a VRPN network to stream data from Optitrack to a separate Linux machine. Your tutorial proved very helpful however after running the node command 'rosrun' it says 'Failed to contact master...' I'm assuming this might be because I'm providing wrong vrpn_ip_server. Any idea how to be sure about the ip address or is it due to something else.

NB : IP address I provided is same as the multicast interface ip I set in the Optitrack tracking tools system.

Thanks.
KBrown
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:21 am

Re: Tracking Tools and Robot Operating System(ROS)

Post by KBrown »

You must first run roscore in a separate terminal.
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