Jetson Orin Nano, No point cloud data in the published topic

[hammockrobotics]

Required Info
Camera Model	{ D435i }
Firmware Version	(5.16.0.1)
Operating System & Version	{ Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) }
Kernel Version (Linux Only)	(5.4)
Platform	NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano 8Gb
Librealsense SDK Version	{ 2.3.2 }
Language	{ running standard launch file}
Segment	{Robot Drone }
ROS Distro	{ Noetic }
RealSense ROS Wrapper Version	{4.51.1, 4.54.1, etc..}

Issue Description

I had followed the steps as mentioned here to install the wrapper for the Jetson orin nano 8Gb : https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/doc/installation_jetson.md

I attempted to run the launch file : roslaunch realsense2_camera rs_camera.launch enable_pointcloud:=true

and it functions as expected. However, upon inspection of the topics, it seems to be there are no information on the point cloud. This issue is further confirmed on Rviz as I am not able to visualize the point cloud in it. /camera/depth/color/points this topic has no output in rviz /camera/depth/image_rect_raw: this topic has values

In the realsense-viewer however, there seems to be no isues with visualizing the 3D image based on the colour map for depth image.

I then attempeted to run the ros wrapper based on the original github, however there are more issues with that method and I belie it is not compatible with the version used for the Jetson Orin Nano. https://github.com/IntelRealSense/realsense-ros?tab=readme-ov-filev(am not sure) https://github.com/IntelRealSense/realsense-ros?tab=readme-ov-file

Is there a way or a step that I am missing to actually have the point cloud topic able to be visible in Rviz? I require this topic for other functionalities later on. Appreciate the help.

i have not yet tried the "Building from Source using Native Backend" as I am still new and looks complicated. from here at the bottom part of the page: https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/doc/installation_jetson.md

[MartyG-RealSense]

Hi @hammockrobotics Are you able to visualize the pointcloud in RViz if you use the filters:=pointcloud parameter instead of enable_pointcloud and have Fixed Frame set to camera_link, please?

roslaunch realsense2_camera rs_camera.launch filters:=pointcloud

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/realsense-ros/tree/ros1-legacy?tab=readme-ov-file#point-cloud

---

If you use these settings and still cannot visualize the pointcloud then there is an alternative method in the RealSense ROS1 wrapper of performing an RGBD launch instead of using rs_camera.

1. Install support for an RGBD launch on Noetic with the command below.

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-rgbd-launch

2. Launch the rs_rgbd.launch launch file. You do not need to enable the pointcloud in the launch command as it is already enabled by default in this launch file.

roslaunch realsense2_camera rs_rgbd.launch

The pointcloud should be published at depth_image_proc instead of /camera/depth/color/points

[hammockrobotics]

hi @MartyG-RealSense the method with filters:=pointcloud does not have an effect of the display of information on the topic: /camera/depth/color/points for pointCloud2. Is there another topic i should be looking at?

I tried your method of roslaunch realsense2_camera rs_rgbd.launch and the pointcloud topic appears to be published on the topic: /camera/depth_registered/points. as pointCloud2

appreciate the help, however is there an explanation of why it works in the second method as opposed to the one provided in the main github?

[MartyG-RealSense]

I'm pleased to hear that you were able to achieve a pointcloud with the rs_rgbd launch file.

There is not a known reason why rs_rgbd is a solution for pointcloud publishing on Jetson boards when enabling the pointcloud filter on an rs_camera launch does not work. The main differences between the launch files aside from the different topic that the pointcloud is published to are that in rs_rgbd, (a) align_depth is true by default, (b) its pointcloud is an ordered cloud instead of the unordered cloud that rs_camera uses by default, and (c) enable_sync is true by default.

rs_rgbd also has a significant amount of additional instructions related to pointcloud processing that rs_camera does not have.

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/realsense-ros/blob/ros1-legacy/realsense2_camera/launch/rs_rgbd.launch#L182-L200

[MartyG-RealSense]

Hi @hammockrobotics Do you require further assistance with this case, please? Thanks!

[MartyG-RealSense]

Case closed due to no further comments received.