adding a different map to autoware universe

[koraykoca]

Hi everyone,

I want to make tests using my own map, however I am having problems with loading of a different lanelet2 map in the simulator. I also tried parking_lot map from Autoware.Auto, and I can only see the point cloud data. lanelet2_map.osm could not be loaded in the simulation. The command I am using is

ros2 launch autoware_launch planning_simulator.launch.xml map_path:=<path to the map folder which includes .osm, .pcd and config.yaml file> vehicle_model:=sample_vehicle sensor_model:=sample_sensor_kit

name of the lanelet2 map and pcd map is: lanelet2_map.osm, pointcloud_map.pcd. I tried two different maps, you can find the folders of those maps in my drive.

How can I load a custom lanelet2 map in the simulator and set it to make planning tests using autoware?

[kminoda]

You can find a general description of the vector map for Autoware in Documentation or ReadMe.

Among the two files you've shared, sample-map-cr seems not compatible with Autoware.

sample-map-park seems compatible, but another issue lies in the incompatible coordinate between lanelet2 and pcd file. While the coordinate of pcd is centered around [0, 0], lanelet2 file only includes latlon coordinates. You can refer to here for how to provide local coordinates to your lanelet2 file. Modifying pcd coordinate would also be a choice.

It should be something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<osm generator="VMB">
  <MetaInfo format_version="1" map_version="3"/>
  <node id="1" lat="" lon="">
    <tag k="mgrs_code" v="99XXX000000"/>
    <tag k="local_x" v="2.6262"/>
    <tag k="local_y" v="2.351"/>
    <tag k="ele" v="-0.6315"/>
  </node>
  <node id="2" lat="" lon="">
    <tag k="mgrs_code" v="99XXX000000"/>
    <tag k="local_x" v="1.5058"/>
    <tag k="local_y" v="2.1833"/>
    <tag k="ele" v="-0.617"/>
  </node>
...

Hope this helps.

(I am kind of new to lanelet2, so any additional comments to both of us are welcome!)

[kminoda]

I finally discovered a way to solve your issue:

1. Make your PCD compatible with VMB

It seems that the intensity data in your pcd file (sample-map-park) have 1 byte. On the other hand, VMB currently assumes that the intensity is 4 byte. So, one easy solution to fix this is to remove your intensity data from your PCD:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import open3d as o3d
pcd = o3d.io.read_point_cloud("pointcloud_map.pcd", format='pcd')
o3d.io.write_point_cloud("without_intensity.pcd", pcd)

2. Add "local_x" and "local_y" tag using VMB

The same one as you tried! (By the way, I tried Vector Map Builder tool, basically I uploaded the lanelet2 map and then exported the map. It added local_x, local_y coordinates together with mgrs_code values automatically.)

3. Translate your "local_x" and "local_y" coordinate of the above-generated vector map

Your PCD is aligned to (0, 0), while the above-generated vector map has coordinate that looks something like (96652.9464, 37746.4134).
In order to align two maps, execute the following command. (Note that the output is still not perfectly aligned, so you need to follow step 4 too)

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET

path = "/YOUR_PATH/lanelet2_map.osm"

tree = ET.parse(path)
root = tree.getroot()

center_x = None
center_y = None
for child in root:
    if child.tag == 'node':
        data = child.attrib
        for grandchild in child:
            if grandchild.attrib['k'] == 'local_x':
                if center_x is None:
                    center_x = float(grandchild.attrib['v'])
                grandchild.attrib['v'] = str(float(grandchild.attrib['v']) - center_x)
            if grandchild.attrib['k'] == 'local_y':
                if center_y is None:
                    center_y = float(grandchild.attrib['v'])
                grandchild.attrib['v'] = str(float(grandchild.attrib['v']) - center_y)
tree.write('/YOUR_PATH/output_lanelet2_map.osm')

4. Manually align two maps using VMB

Now, upload your pcd map (from 1) and lanelet map (from 3) to VMB. You can manually move your vector map using GUI to align with your pcd map.

[koraykoca]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer @kminoda. I followed the steps you shared, and I could see the map and point cloud on VMB, as your screenshot. However, I cannot see the lanelet2_map.osm in rviz. The command I am using for it:

source ~/autoware/install/setup.bash && ros2 launch autoware_launch planning_simulator.launch.xml map_path:=$HOME/workspace/dfg-car/src/cr2autoware/data/sample-map-cr vehicle_model:=sample_vehicle sensor_model:=sample_sensor_kit

Rviz only shows the point cloud data, lanelet2 map file is missing. Could you see the lanelet2_map.osm data in rviz after these steps?

I want to ask one more question: we don't have a pcd data for our lanelet2 map (here is the link for it). I could load our lanelet2 map in VMB. However, I cannot see it in rviz (same problem as before, but the difference is that I don't have pcd data this time). Can we see/use our lanelet2_map.osm file in rviz without pcd data?

[kminoda]

You are right. In my case, when loading the lanelet2 created with the above procedure, lanelet2_map_loader outputs some errors. Apologies for making you confused.
Give me some time to figure out the other way to solve your issue.

Can we see/use our lanelet2_map.osm file in rviz without pcd data?

I have never tried it, but I think you can do it. Currently, the tf of viewer is generated using map_tf_generator (see here), which uses an approximated center position of pointcloud map. One of the ways to do it is to modify the above package to publish a center coordinate of lanelet2 map as the viewer tf.

[kminoda]

BTW, would you mind sharing with us how you've created your lanelet2 maps in the first place?

[koraykoca]

In my case, it says:
I 0:08:48:291 [map.lanelet2_map_visualization::onMapBin] Map is loaded

however, I cannot see that in rviz. Since I have not the pcd data, I am getting also this warning:
Warning: Invalid frame ID "viewer" passed to canTransform argument source_frame - frame does not exist

But I think, this shouldn't affect the lanelet2 map loader. I thought that if we could load the map in VMB, then we could load it also in rviz, but somehow it doesn't work.

Yes, of course. I get the map from Commonroad website. You can download it from here, its name is: PRI_Barceloneta-2_2_T-1 and its number is 104. After I downloaded the map, I have converted it from xml to osm format using proj library. My proj string is: "+proj=utm +zone=19 +datum=WGS84 +ellps=WGS84", then I uploaded it to VMB, to get local coordinates and ele tags automatically.

[shmpwk]

Without pcd, curently we cannot launch planning_simulator, which means sample-map-cr needs pointcloud.

sample-map-park has both osm and pcd, so it should be compatible. But as @.kminoda says, the coordinate seems strange.

@koraykoca
Where did you get sample-map-park in Autoware.Auto.? I cannot find it.

[koraykoca]

Hi @shmpwk. I downloaded parking_lot osm and pcd data from Autoware.Auto repository.

[shmpwk]

@koraykoca
Thank you for your sharing!
I also failed to visualize map on rviz using Autoware.Auto data.
Maybe it is obsolete since we don't usually commit it now. (But of course, it should works properly by default.)
If you just try proper map, you can use sample-map-planning data described here.
It should works fine.

[shmpwk]

Now I'm trying to find the way to visualize map without pcd as kminoda said.

[koraykoca]

Maybe it is obsolete since we don't usually commit it now. (But of course, it should works properly by default.)

Yes, and we can visualize it on VMB actually, as @kminoda did it.

If you just try proper map, you can use sample-map-planning data described here. It should works fine.

I am already working on this map, but would like to upload my own map in the future to test our algorithm. Because then we can test it on the real car.

[kminoda]

(Thanks @shmpwk for the answers!)

If running autoware with sample-map-park is not necessary in your project, how about skipping that step and use some other maps (e.g. sample maps from the latest autoware)? Converting maps from Autoware.Auto to Autoware.universe can be a bit tricky.

I am pretty sure you can create your own maps that are compatible with the latest Autoware with the following procedures (without facing the same issue you're having right now 😉):

1. Create a pcd map
2. Upload the pcd map to VMB
3. Create a lanelet map on VMB

[shmpwk]

@koraykoca
With this PR, you can try your custom vector map without pcd map as for planning_simulator.launch.xml
(The PR is currently draft but already works properly.)

[shmpwk]

@koraykoca
Thank you, seems these error are expected, not the cause of your problem 🤔 Strange......

[koraykoca]

exactly. As related info messages, I am seeing:

I 0:01:16:462 [map.lanelet2_map_visualization::onMapBin] Map is loaded
I 0:01:17:733 [map.vector_map_tf_generator::onVectorMap] broadcast static tf. map_frame:map, viewer_frame:viewer, x:60068.5, y:41552.9, z:0

Everything looks normal actually 🤔

[shmpwk]

@koraykoca
Thanks to @wep21,
he found your lanelet lacks subtype: road .
Without road, no vector map may appear on Rviz.

[koraykoca]

@shmpwk @wep21
right, the problem was missing subtype: road tags. I added them manually to every <relation> elements, which include type:"way". Thank you, it's working right now!

[shmpwk]

@koraykoca
Excellent!!
One thing @wep21 noticed is that your lanelet don't match the map exactly, which might cause a problem when applying to real world driving.