VRPN Streaming Rate

[wcompton]

I use Optitrack to localize robots (bipeds, quadrotors, ect.) in my lab. We have successfully used Motive software (specifically v2.3) for a few years now to interface with a number (7+ simultaneous) Prime13X Optitrack cameras. Motive is set up to use the VRPN client to broadcast rigid body data over the network, and we use vrpn_ros_client to receive this data and publish it into a ros node. In this pipeline, we set the camera frame rate to 240Hz, and receive data over the ros node at 240Hz.

Recently, our motive 2.3 license expired. We took this opportunity to upgrade to Motive 3.1 and upgrade our mocap PCs (from 7 year old workstations to new ones). Cloning our setup, as closely as possible, to my knowledge, the vrpn_ros_client is only publishing at 60Hz, despite cameras and captured data in the motive application running at 240Hz. All PCs on the network are wired via ethernet, network speeds around 1000Mbs.

I can't find any Motive settings regarding the VRPN broadcast rate. Also, wireshark reveals our robot's PC receiving packets from the Motive PC at 50Hz (not the 240Hz we would expect). The roslaunch node specifies a rate of 240Hz.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[riorferocious]

It could be a network issue, a mismatch between the Motive broadcast rate settings and the VRPN client, or a sync problem between Motive and the ROS node. I’d recommend double-checking the VRPN broadcast settings in Motive, confirming there’s no network congestion, and reviewing your ROS node’s settings to ensure it's configured to handle the expected data rate. You might also want to explore any changes between Motive 2.3 and 3.1 that could be affecting data transmission.