Xsens MTi ROS2 Driver and Ntrip Client

This code was based on the official Xsens 2023 Open source Xsens Device API tested on MTi-680G/MTi-8 with ROS2 Humble at Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS .

ROS vs ROS2 Versions

Note that this branch contains the ROS2 implementation that is compatible for Humble and Jazzy.

If you are looking for the ROS1 version, you should go to the main branch.

And if you are looking for the ROS2 Foxy version, you should go to the ros2-foxy branch.

How to clone this ROS2 branch

git clone --recursive --branch ros2 https://github.com/xsenssupport/Xsens_MTi_ROS_Driver_and_Ntrip_Client.git

Device Settings - Output Configurations

Note: the UTC Time, SampleTimeFine, Status Word, Latitude and Longitude needs to be enabled, in order to get GPGGA data for topic /nmea: MT Manager - Device Settings - Output Configuration , select "UTC Time, Sample TimeFine, Status Word, Latitude and Longitude" and other required data, click "Apply"

Here are the recommended Output Configurations and Device Settings:

Changes made to the MTi ROS Driver:

• Fix the fix_type of the /nmea GPGGA topic to align with NMEA standards.

• Add:

  • +Sensor ouput configurations;
  • +Sensor Filter Settings;
  • +Setting baudrate;
  • +Setting GNSS Lever Arm for MTi-8/MTi-680(G)
  • +Setting u-Blox GNSS Platform
  • +Option Flags Settings(AHS,In-Run Compass, Beidou, OrientationSmoother, PositionVelocitySmoother, ContinousZRU);
  • +Manual Gyro Bias Estimation Periodically
  • +Add filter/euler and high rate topics for imu/acceleration_hr, imu/angular_velocity_hr
  • +Add error messages.

• change:

  • lib/xspublic/xscontroller/iointerface.h, line 138, change to PO_OneStopBIt for PO_XsensDefaults.
  • lib/xspublic/xscommon/threading.cpp, updated to work with glibc 2.35.

Ntrip_Client

The Ntrip_client subscribes to the /nmea rostopic from xsens_mti_ros2_driver, and wait until it gets data for maximum 300 sec, it will send GPGGA to the Ntrip Caster(Server) every 1 second.

User needs to change the ntrip_launch.py for their own credentials/servers/mountpoint.

How to Install:

install dependency:

sudo apt install ros-[ROSDISTRIBUTION]-nmea-msgs
sudo apt install ros-[ROSDISTRIBUTION]-mavros-msgs

for example for ROS2 Humble:

sudo apt install ros-humble-nmea-msgs
sudo apt install ros-humble-mavros-msgs

change the NTRIP credentials/servers/mountpoint in src/ntrip/launch/ntrip_launch.py to your own one.

copy the src folder to your ros2_ws folder, and run the code below:

cd ~/ros2_ws
colcon build

Source the install/setup.bash file inside your ROS2 workspace

source install/setup.bash

or

add it into rules:

sudo nano ~/.bashrc

At the end of the file, add the following line:

source /home/[USER_NAME]/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash

save the file, exit.

Note: If you don't add this source line to your ~/.bashrc, then every time you open a new terminal, you will have to firstly do source install/setup.bash, otherwise you couldn't read the /status topic data.

How to Use:

open first terminal:

ros2 launch xsens_mti_ros2_driver xsens_mti_node.launch.py

or with the 3D display rviz:

ros2 launch xsens_mti_ros2_driver display.launch.py

and then open another terminal

ros2 launch ntrip ntrip_launch.py

How to confirm your RTK Status

you could check ros2 topic echo /rtcm, there should be HEX RTCM data coming,

or ros2 topic echo /status to check the RTK Fix type, it should be 1(RTK Floating) or 2(RTK Fix).

ROS Topics

topic	Message Type	Message Contents	Data Output Rate (Depending on Model and OutputConfigurations at MT Manager)
filter/free_acceleration	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	free acceleration from filter, which is the acceleration in the local earth coordinate system (L) from which the local gravity is deducted	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
filter/positionlla	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	filtered position output in latitude (x), longitude (y) and altitude (z) as Vector3, in WGS84 datum	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
filter/quaternion	geometry_msgs/QuaternionStamped	quaternion from filter	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
filter/euler	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	euler(roll,pitch,yaw) from filter	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
filter/twist	geometry_msgs/TwistStamped	filtered velocity and calibrated angular velocity	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
filter/velocity	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	filtered velocity output as Vector3	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
gnss	sensor_msgs/NavSatFix	raw 4 Hz latitude, longitude, altitude and status data from GNSS receiver	4Hz
gnss_pose	geometry_msgs/PoseStamped	filtered position output in latitude (x), longitude (y) and altitude (z) as Vector3 in WGS84 datum, and quaternion from filter	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/acceleration	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	calibrated acceleration	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/angular_velocity	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	calibrated angular velocity	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/data	sensor_msgs/Imu	quaternion, calibrated angular velocity and acceleration	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/dq	geometry_msgs/QuaternionStamped	integrated angular velocity from sensor (in quaternion representation)	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/dv	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	integrated acceleration from sensor	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/mag	sensor_msgs/MagneticField	calibrated magnetic field	1-100Hz
imu/time_ref	sensor_msgs/TimeReference	SampleTimeFine timestamp from device	depending on packet
imu/utctime	sensor_msgs/TimeReference	UTC Time from the device	depending on packet
nmea	nmea_msgs/Sentence	4Hz GPGGA data from GNSS receiver PVTData(if available) and StatusWord	4Hz
pressure	sensor_msgs/FluidPressure	barometric pressure from device	1-100Hz
status	xsens_mti_driver/XsStatusWord	statusWord, 32bit	depending on packet
temperature	sensor_msgs/Temperature	temperature from device	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
tf	geometry_msgs/TransformStamped	transformed orientation	1-400Hz(MTi-600 and MTi-100 series), 1-100Hz(MTi-1 series)
imu/acceleration_hr	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	high rate acceleration	see xsens_mti_node.yaml
imu/angular_velocity_hr	geometry_msgs/Vector3Stamped	high rate angular velocity	see xsens_mti_node.yaml

Please refer to MTi Family Reference Manual for detailed definition of data.

Troubleshooting

• Refer to the README.txt
• nVidia Jetson devices, ref to Interfacing MTi devices with the NVIDIA Jetson
• Docs, ref code: All MTi Related Documentation Links
• Regarding Parameters: If you have previously run colcon build and then changed the credentials in ntrip or YAML parameters, you will need to run colcon build again after making those changes. Otherwise, it won't work for ROS 2.
• For technical support, and if it is no relevant to the code here, please send your questions to [email protected]