Add noise to specific transformation (used for odom in softbot)

[miguelriemoliveira]

From our discussion it seems the best way is to create an argument in calibrate.

[brunofavs]

This is implemented.

To run it : rosrun atom_calibration calibrate -json $ATOM_DATASETS/softbot/dataset_perfect_simulation/dataset_corrected.json -v -ntfv 0.1 1 -ntfl "world:base_footprint"

It's using a custom parser to parse pairs of transformations : https://github.com/lardemua/atom/blob/7ddb800d15fcab58bfde8929b1bfb37bd08a10e5/atom_calibration/scripts/calibrate#L114-L115

It allows adding a certain noise to a list of unlimited transformations, even though I will only need to add one. It's implemented to be future-proof.

The new flags are -ntfl (noisy tf links) and -ntfv(noisy tf values), they are coded to be mutually inclusive meaning only works if either both or none are provided.

These are the results of adding 1 meter/1 rad of noise to the world-base_footprint transformation : Original

{'child': 'base_footprint',
 'parent': 'world',
 'quat': array([-0.53705174, -0.25723141, -0.47395355,  0.64867208]),
 'trans': [-0.2705780038130975, -0.6439190834582494, 0.7109601381499732]}

With noise

{'child': 'base_footprint',
 'parent': 'world',
 'quat': [0.000198939124377559,
          -0.0012093277765717638,
          0.15914427290610855,
          0.9872545762622423],
 'trans': [-0.04164416173522156, 0.01992514094865932, -0.0010090617969430225]}

I also implemented a simple check to make the addNoiseToInitialGuess() more efficient : https://github.com/lardemua/atom/blob/7ddb800d15fcab58bfde8929b1bfb37bd08a10e5/atom_core/src/atom_core/dataset_io.py#L791-L793

Previously, if no noise was specified it would still compute it and add 0 to all collections.

What I didn't do because I wasn't sure if it would be useful would've been to add different noise to different transforms if multiple pairs were parsed in.

[miguelriemoliveira]

Hi @brunofavs ,

sorry for the delayed response. great work! Some comments, of course :-)

help="Pairs of links defining the transformations to which noise will be added, in the format link1:link2,linkA,linkB")

noisy_tf_values. You should specify in the help of the argparse that the 2 values we add are for rotation and translation? Or is it the other way? Also, the units.

This is confusing "link1:link2,linkA,linkB". Is it : or ,?

These are the results of adding 1 meter/1 rad of noise to the world-base_footprint transformation : Original

{'child': 'base_footprint', 'parent': 'world', 'quat': array([-0.53705174, -0.25723141, -0.47395355, 0.64867208]), 'trans': [-0.2705780038130975, -0.6439190834582494, 0.7109601381499732]} With noise

{'child': 'base_footprint', 'parent': 'world', 'quat': [0.000198939124377559, -0.0012093277765717638, 0.15914427290610855, 0.9872545762622423], 'trans': [-0.04164416173522156, 0.01992514094865932, -0.0010090617969430225]}

This is not correct. Notice how the quat changes from an array on input (I don't think it should be an array) to a list on the output. Adding noise should add noise, not change the type of the variables.

[miguelriemoliveira]

I also implemented a simple check to make the addNoiseToInitialGuess() more efficient : atom/atom_core/src/atom_core/dataset_io.py

Lines 791 to 793 in 7ddb800

if args['noisy_initial_guess'] == [0,0]: print("No noise added to transform's initial guess") return Previously, if no noise was specified it would still compute it and add 0 to all collections.

What I didn't do because I wasn't sure if it would be useful would've been to add different noise to different transforms if multiple pairs were parsed in.

This is a different subject. You should have created a new issue for this. I am not sure about the implications of your fix. As I told you, calibrate is a very large code. A change may have unintended consequences. These kind of changes outside the scope of your intervention should be discussed between us before being pushed. Or you could have created a PR for that ...

[miguelriemoliveira]

Apart from all the comments, great work.

Reopening so @brunofavs can do the suggested fixes.

[brunofavs]

Hey @miguelriemoliveira,

noisy_tf_values. You should specify in the help of the argparse that the 2 values we add are for rotation and translation? Or is it the other way? Also, the units.

I might've not been very clear on my initial comment. There are 2 flags : https://github.com/lardemua/atom/blob/4c2e33607a40a449499c563ed1fe0e68e870a16d/atom_calibration/scripts/calibrate#L114-L117

-ntfl defines pairs of links to which noise will be added

-ntfv specifies how much translation and rotation noise will be added.

Nevertheless, I touched up the -help to make it more clear.

This is not correct. Notice how the quat changes from an array on input (I don't think it should be an array) to a list on the output. Adding noise should add noise, not change the type of the variables.

I have to investigate this because it might be a greater issue we're facing, because I used the addNoiseToTF() function already developed in the past, I didn't touch the part where the noise is actually added.

This is a different subject. You should have created a new issue for this. I am not sure about the implications of your fix. As I told you, calibrate is a very large code. A change may have unintended consequences. These kind of changes outside the scope of your intervention should be discussed between us before being pushed. Or you could have created a PR for that ...

You are totally right, I shouldn't have made this change. It's only on my current branch but I will revert it and create a issue for that. I thought it was a really small thing not worthy of a issue but this kindof mentality is the root of possible problems in the future.