improve floating point precision support

[sbarthelemy]

I'd like to let the user change the floating point precision of algorithms properly.

Currently this parameter is a typedef in metapod namespace. Changing it requires editing the file.

On could add a preprocessor option to avoid editing the file. This might be handy (especially for testing both precisions), but can led to problems at link time:

• if one build with the USE_SINGLE_PRECISION flag and does not define the flag prior to including the headers.
• worst, it prevents us to use both precisions at the same time, because of symbols collisions.

I think a proper solution would be to move FloatType as a template parameter to both Robot and Spatial::* classes.

I haven't thought about that much though. Any comment?

I would also jump on that occasion to rename linear algebra types in metapod. I think we should closely follow the Eigen conventions, and keep the first letter capital.

So the current metapod::matrix3d would become metapod::Matrix3 (we could also define metapod::Matrix3d and metapod::Matrix3f).

Any comment?

[aelkhour]

I think a proper solution would be to move FloatType as a template parameter to both Robot and Spatial::* classes.

I agree with you, this does sound like the best solution.

So the current metapod::matrix3d would become metapod::Matrix3 (we could also define metapod::Matrix3d and metapod::Matrix3f).

Agreed. Could you however try to keep the two changes (template by float type and renaming) separate in terms of commits?

Thanks for all your contributions to metapod!

[olivier-stasse]

Fixed by commit b473121142004652f8aa7e63df2095c8c8d58c11