pointcloud_raw_ex are not reaching Autoware

[eitoga]

Hello, I'm using Autoware and AWSIM Unity Project. I created a node to publish /sensing/lidar/top/pointcloud_raw_ex to manipulate point clouds, but I'm running into an issue.

(Here's a log showing the TF breaking)

When I check if the topic is being published using ros2 topic echo, I can see that my custom node is publishing the topic correctly. So, I added some code to fix the TF connection, but Autoware still doesn’t recognize the topic.

However, if I use AWSIM's default method to publish pointcloud_raw_ex without using my custom node, everything works fine.

What's the problem?

Configuration:
Ubuntu 20.04
AWSIM v1.3.0

[maxime-clem]

The error messages about the TF are expected. Localization is responsible for publishing the map -> base_link transform but without the lidar data it cannot localize.

Your issue sounds like a QoS issue.
Please share the result of ros2 topic info /sensing/lidar/top/pointcloud_raw_ex -v as it will show the QoS of each publisher and subscriber of the topic.

[eitoga]

I also don’t think this is an issue, which is why I categorized it as Q&A. It should be fine, right?

My problem is exactly as you mentioned.
The default AWSIM works fine with velodyne_top as theframe_id so I’m doing the same.

I believe I’m publishing the same point cloud. Here is the content of the message published on the /sensing/lidar/top/pointcloud_raw_ex topic.
What do you think?

[maxime-clem]

It's hard to say. One other issue I can think of is with the timestamp of the pointcloud messages. In AWSIM, the timestamp is based on the simulated /clock. Make sure you are also using this /clock.

[eitoga]

I hadn't considered the timestamp or /clock at all, so that might be the cause of the issue.
Could you tell me how to check /clock?

[adijams01]

hello were you able to solve this?
I am also facing same issue, i tried using robosense helios 16P and publishing it to same topic as AWSIM also i tried doing same thing with camera data but i am getting same errors...
https://discord.com/channels/953808765935816715/953846504865533983/1339916740544565355

[maxime-clem]

Could you tell me how to check /clock?

Sorry I missed this message.
You can simply ros2 topic echo /clock.
And compare with the stamp value of your sensor message.
If the difference is too big the message may be ignored by the Autoware nodes.