dmhilly / viam-cartographer

Cartographer integrated with Viam.

viam-cartographer

(In)stability Notice

Warning This is an experimental feature. Stability is not guaranteed. Breaking changes are likely to occur, and occur often.

Overview

This repo wraps Cartographer as a modular resource so it is easily usable with the rest of Viam's ecosystem. Cartographer is a system that provides real-time Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) in 2D and 3D across multiple platforms and sensor configurations.

Getting started

Stable AppImages

Install viam-cartographer:

• Linux aarch64:

  sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server http://packages.viam.com/apps/slam-servers/carto_grpc_server-stable-aarch64.AppImage
  sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server

• Linux x86_64:

  sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server http://packages.viam.com/apps/slam-servers/carto_grpc_server-stable-x86_64.AppImage
  sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server

• MacOS/Linux

  brew tap viamrobotics/brews && brew install carto-grpc-server

For next steps, see the Run Cartographer SLAM on your Robot with a LIDAR Tutorial.

Development

You can either install the latest AppImages for testing, or build the code from source.

Latest AppImages

You can install the latest AppImages using:

• Linux aarch64:

  sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server http://packages.viam.com/apps/slam-servers/carto_grpc_server-latest-aarch64.AppImage
  sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server

• Linux x86_64:

  sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server http://packages.viam.com/apps/slam-servers/carto_grpc_server-latest-x86_64.AppImage
  sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/carto_grpc_server

Build from source

Download

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/viamrobotics/viam-cartographer.git

If you happened to use git clone only, you won't see the cartographer folder and will need to fetch it:

git submodule update --init

(Optional) Using Canon Images

If desired, Viam's canon tool can be used to create a docker container to build arm64 or amd64 binaries of the SLAM server. The canon tool can be installed by running the following command:

go install github.com/viamrobotics/canon@latest

And then by running one of the following commands in the viam-cartographer repository to create the container:

canon -arch arm64

canon -arch amd64

These containers are set to persist between sessions via the persistent parameter in the .canon.yaml file located in the root of viam-cartographer. More details regarding the use of Viam's canon tool can be found here.

Setup, build, and run the binary

# Setup the gRPC files
make bufinstall && make buf 
# Install dependencies
make setup
# Build & install the binary
make build
sudo cp viam-cartographer/build/carto_grpc_server /usr/local/bin
# Run the binary
carto_grpc_server

Linting

make lint-setup
make lint

Testing

make test

Working with submodules

Commit and push

1. Commit and push changes in the cartographer submodule first.
2. Commit and push changes in the viam-cartographer library last.

Or, alternatively:

1. Commit changes in the cartographer submodule
2. Commit changes in the main repo
3. Push all changes by running git push --recurse-submodules=on-demand

Changing branches in a submodule

When changing branches in a submodule, update .gitmodules, e.g., changing to a branch called kk/fix-install:

...
[submodule "viam-cartographer/cartographer"]
        path = viam-cartographer/cartographer
        url = [email protected]:kkufieta/cartographer.git
        branch=kk/fix-install

Commit & push the changes.

When pulling those changes, run the following:

git pull
git submodule update --init --recursive

License

Copyright 2023 Viam Inc.

Apache 2.0 - See LICENSE file