Intel provides an open source ROS package for their RealSense cameras. In this article, we install the package on the Jetson TX1. In the video, we even take the package out for a spin with a RealSense R200 camera connected to a Jetson TX1. Looky here:
Background
The Intel RealSense cameras are small form factor RGBD cameras that provide high performance at an inexpensive price point. For many robotic applications, the RealSense camera is a good fit. Getting the RealSense ROS packages up and running on the Jetson TX1 is fairly straightforward.
Installation
The RealSense ROS package has two prerequisites on the Jetson TX1. First, modify the Jetson TX1 kernel to allow the Jetson to understand the different video modes of the RealSense cameras. This previous article describes the process: Intel RealSense Camera Installation – NVIDIA Jetson TX1.
The librealsense installation article above installs librealsense on the TX1. This is strictly not necessary as the RealSense ROS packages needs librealsense to be installed from source in the Catkin Workspace. However, following the article allows for easy testing. Note that you can uninstall the librealsense library if desired:
$ cd librealsense
$ sudo make uninstall
The second prerequisite is that ROS must be installed on the Jetson TX1, along with a Catkin Workspace. Here is an earlier article Robot Operating System (ROS) on NVIDIA Jetson TX1 about the installation process.
Install RealSense Packages for ROS
There are convenience scripts to install the Intel RealSense ROS package on the Github JetsonHacks account. After the prerequisites mentioned above have been installed:
$ git clone https://github.com/jetsonhacks/installRealSenseROSTX1
$ cd installRealSenseROSTX1
$ ./installRealSenseROSTX1 <catkin workspace name>
Where catkin_workspace_name is the name of the Catkin Workspace to place the RealSense package. In the video, the workspace is named jetsonbot.
Launch files for the camera node/nodelet are available in the realsense_camera source directory in the launch folder. There are also rviz launch files in the rviz folder.
Notes
There is a file called Notes.txt in the installRealSenseROSTX1 directory which has some short notes for installing rviz and rqt-reconfigure to help visualize the output from the RealSense camera and adjust camera parameters on the Jetson TX1.
The installation above shows a Jetson TX1 running L4T 24.2.1. The scripts install Intel RealSense ROS package version 1.5.
Unlike most of articles and videos on JetsonHacks, installation of the Intel RealSense packages requires some prerequisites to be installed before installation. While previous articles cover the steps involved, be aware that this is a little more complicated than most of the software installation articles on this site.
As always, the scripts made available from JetsonHacks only provide a guide for how to complete the described task, you may have to modify them to suit your needs.
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