Add option to continuously transform visuals in point cloud plugin

src/rviz/default_plugin/point_cloud_common.cpp

@@ -313,6 +313,12 @@ PointCloudCommon::PointCloudCommon(Display* display)
   , transformer_class_loader_(nullptr)
   , display_(display)
 {
+  continuous_transform_property_ =
+      new BoolProperty("Continuous Transform", false,
+                       "Retransform into fixed frame every timestep. This is particularly useful for "
+                       "messages whose frame moves w.r.t. fixed frame.",
+                       display_);
+
   selectable_property_ =
       new BoolProperty("Selectable", true,
                        "Whether or not the points in this point cloud are selectable.", display_,
@@ -637,6 +643,26 @@ void PointCloudCommon::update(float /*wall_dt*/, float /*ros_dt*/)
     new_color_transformer_ = false;
   }
 
+  if (continuous_transform_property_->getBool())
+  {
+    for (CloudInfoPtr& cloud_info : cloud_infos_)
+    {
+      if (!context_->getFrameManager()->getTransform(cloud_info->message_->header.frame_id, ros::Time(),
+                                                     cloud_info->position_, cloud_info->orientation_))
+      {
+        std::stringstream ss;
+        ss << "Failed to transform from frame [" << cloud_info->message_->header.frame_id
+           << "] to frame [" << context_->getFrameManager()->getFixedFrame() << "]";
+        display_->setStatusStd(StatusProperty::Error, "Message", ss.str());
+      }
+      else
+      {
+        cloud_info->scene_node_->setPosition(cloud_info->position_);
+        cloud_info->scene_node_->setOrientation(cloud_info->orientation_);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   updateStatus();
 }
 

src/rviz/default_plugin/point_cloud_common.h

@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ class PointCloudCommon : public QObject
 
   bool auto_size_;
 
+  BoolProperty* continuous_transform_property_;
   BoolProperty* selectable_property_;
   FloatProperty* point_world_size_property_;
   FloatProperty* point_pixel_size_property_;

src/test/point_cloud_test.py

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+# This program publishes a pointcloud2 to test rviz rendering
+
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import rospy
+import numpy as np
+from sensor_msgs import point_cloud2
+from sensor_msgs.msg import PointCloud2
+from sensor_msgs.msg import PointField
+from std_msgs.msg import Header
+
+import math
+import time
+from geometry_msgs.msg import TransformStamped
+from tf2_ros.transform_broadcaster import TransformBroadcaster
+from tf.transformations import quaternion_from_euler
+from visualization_msgs.msg import Marker
+
+RATE = 30
+width = 100
+height = 100
+
+
+def generate_point_cloud():
+    fields = [
+        PointField("x", 0, PointField.FLOAT32, 1),
+        PointField("y", 4, PointField.FLOAT32, 1),
+        PointField("z", 8, PointField.FLOAT32, 1),
+        PointField("intensity", 12, PointField.FLOAT32, 1),
+    ]
+
+    header = Header()
+    header.frame_id = "map"
+    header.stamp = rospy.Time.now()
+
+    x, y = np.meshgrid(np.linspace(-2, 2, width), np.linspace(-2, 2, height))
+    z = 0.5 * np.sin(2 * x) * np.sin(3 * y)
+    points = np.array([x, y, z, z]).reshape(4, -1).T
+
+    return point_cloud2.create_cloud(header, fields, points)
+
+
+def draw_eight(elapsed_time, full_cycle_duration=10, scale=10):
+    # lemniscate of Gerono
+    progress = (elapsed_time % full_cycle_duration) / full_cycle_duration
+    t = -0.5 * math.pi + progress * (2 * math.pi)
+    x = math.cos(t) * scale
+    y = math.sin(t) * math.cos(t) * scale
+    dx_dt = -math.sin(t)
+    dy_dt = math.cos(t) * math.cos(t) - math.sin(t) * math.sin(t)
+    yaw = math.atan2(dy_dt, dx_dt)
+    return x, y, yaw
+
+
+def display_dummy_robot(stamp):
+    marker = Marker()
+    marker.header.frame_id = "base_link"
+    marker.header.stamp = stamp
+    marker.ns = "robot"
+    marker.id = 0
+    marker.type = Marker.CUBE
+    marker.action = Marker.ADD
+    marker.pose.position.x = 0
+    marker.pose.position.y = 0
+    marker.pose.position.z = 0
+    marker.pose.orientation.x = 0.0
+    marker.pose.orientation.y = 0.0
+    marker.pose.orientation.z = 0.0
+    marker.pose.orientation.w = 1.0
+    marker.scale.x = 1
+    marker.scale.y = 1
+    marker.scale.z = 1
+    marker.color.a = 1.0
+    marker.color.r = 0.0
+    marker.color.g = 1.0
+    marker.color.b = 0.0
+    vis_pub.publish(marker)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    rospy.init_node("point_cloud_test")
+
+    tf_broadcaster = TransformBroadcaster()
+
+    vis_pub = rospy.Publisher("robot/marker", Marker, queue_size=5)
+    pc_pub = rospy.Publisher("points2", PointCloud2, queue_size=5)
+    pc = generate_point_cloud()
+
+    i = 0
+    rate = rospy.Rate(RATE)
+    start = rospy.Time.now()
+    while not rospy.is_shutdown():
+        now = rospy.Time.now()
+
+        if i % RATE == 0:
+            # publish just once per second
+            pc.header.stamp = now
+            pc_pub.publish(pc)
+        i += 1
+
+        robot_x, robot_y, robot_yaw = draw_eight((now - start).to_sec())
+        q = quaternion_from_euler(0, 0, robot_yaw)
+
+        tf = TransformStamped()
+        tf.header.frame_id = "map"
+        tf.header.stamp = now
+        tf.child_frame_id = "base_link"
+        tf.transform.translation.x = robot_x
+        tf.transform.translation.y = robot_y
+        tf.transform.rotation.x = q[0]
+        tf.transform.rotation.y = q[1]
+        tf.transform.rotation.z = q[2]
+        tf.transform.rotation.w = q[3]
+        tf_broadcaster.sendTransform(tf)
+
+        display_dummy_robot(now)
+
+        rate.sleep()

src/test/point_cloud_test.rviz

@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+Panels:
+  - Class: rviz/Displays
+    Help Height: 78
+    Name: Displays
+    Property Tree Widget:
+      Expanded:
+        - /Global Options1
+      Splitter Ratio: 0.5
+    Tree Height: 818
+  - Class: rviz/Selection
+    Name: Selection
+  - Class: rviz/Tool Properties
+    Expanded:
+      - /2D Pose Estimate1
+      - /2D Nav Goal1
+      - /Publish Point1
+    Name: Tool Properties
+    Splitter Ratio: 0.5886790156364441
+  - Class: rviz/Views
+    Expanded:
+      - /Current View1
+    Name: Views
+    Splitter Ratio: 0.5
+  - Class: rviz/Time
+    Experimental: false
+    Name: Time
+    SyncMode: 0
+    SyncSource: PointCloud2
+Preferences:
+  PromptSaveOnExit: true
+Toolbars:
+  toolButtonStyle: 2
+Visualization Manager:
+  Class: ""
+  Displays:
+    - Alpha: 0.5
+      Cell Size: 1
+      Class: rviz/Grid
+      Color: 160; 160; 164
+      Enabled: true
+      Line Style:
+        Line Width: 0.029999999329447746
+        Value: Lines
+      Name: Grid
+      Normal Cell Count: 0
+      Offset:
+        X: 0
+        Y: 0
+        Z: 0
+      Plane: XY
+      Plane Cell Count: 10
+      Reference Frame: map
+      Value: true
+    - Alpha: 1
+      Autocompute Intensity Bounds: true
+      Autocompute Value Bounds:
+        Max Value: 10
+        Min Value: -10
+        Value: true
+      Axis: Z
+      Channel Name: intensity
+      Class: rviz/PointCloud2
+      Color: 255; 255; 255
+      Color Transformer: Intensity
+      Decay Time: 0
+      Enabled: true
+      Invert Rainbow: false
+      Max Color: 255; 255; 255
+      Min Color: 0; 0; 0
+      Name: PointCloud2
+      Position Transformer: XYZ
+      Queue Size: 10
+      Selectable: true
+      Size (Pixels): 3
+      Size (m): 0.05000000074505806
+      Style: Flat Squares
+      Topic: /points2
+      Unreliable: false
+      Use Fixed Frame: true
+      Use rainbow: true
+      Value: true
+    - Class: rviz/Marker
+      Enabled: true
+      Marker Topic: /robot/marker
+      Name: Marker
+      Namespaces:
+        robot: true
+      Queue Size: 100
+      Value: true
+  Enabled: true
+  Global Options:
+    Background Color: 48; 48; 48
+    Default Light: true
+    Fixed Frame: map
+    Frame Rate: 30
+  Name: root
+  Tools:
+    - Class: rviz/Interact
+      Hide Inactive Objects: true
+    - Class: rviz/MoveCamera
+    - Class: rviz/Select
+    - Class: rviz/FocusCamera
+    - Class: rviz/Measure
+    - Class: rviz/SetInitialPose
+      Theta std deviation: 0.2617993950843811
+      Topic: /initialpose
+      X std deviation: 0.5
+      Y std deviation: 0.5
+    - Class: rviz/SetGoal
+      Topic: /move_base_simple/goal
+    - Class: rviz/PublishPoint
+      Single click: true
+      Topic: /clicked_point
+  Value: true
+  Views:
+    Current:
+      Class: rviz/Orbit
+      Distance: 30.52842903137207
+      Enable Stereo Rendering:
+        Stereo Eye Separation: 0.05999999865889549
+        Stereo Focal Distance: 1
+        Swap Stereo Eyes: false
+        Value: false
+      Field of View: 0.7853981852531433
+      Focal Point:
+        X: 0
+        Y: 0
+        Z: 0
+      Focal Shape Fixed Size: true
+      Focal Shape Size: 0.05000000074505806
+      Invert Z Axis: false
+      Name: Current View
+      Near Clip Distance: 0.009999999776482582
+      Pitch: 0.6153981685638428
+      Target Frame: <Fixed Frame>
+      Yaw: 1.025397777557373
+    Saved: ~
+Window Geometry:
+  Displays:
+    collapsed: false
+  Height: 1115
+  Hide Left Dock: false
+  Hide Right Dock: false
+  QMainWindow State: 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
+  Selection:
+    collapsed: false
+  Time:
+    collapsed: false
+  Tool Properties:
+    collapsed: false
+  Views:
+    collapsed: false
+  Width: 1920
+  X: 0
+  Y: 0