4 posts tagged with "ros"

Data management is a very important element in modern robotics systems. As robots become more advanced, they generate massive amounts of information from various sources, such as sensor readings, system logs, and video feeds, and being able to manage this data effectively can mean the difference between a robot that performs well and one that fails to meet expectations.

In this article, we will compare different data management tools for robotics by looking into their key features, strengths, and the types of use cases they are best suited for. Understanding these differences will help robotics engineers and developers choose the right tool for their specific needs.

In this tutorial, we will create a custom ROS 2 Humble package called rosbag2reduct that records incoming ROS 2 topics into MCAP bag files on a Raspberry Pi and automatically uploads those files to a ReductStore instance with metadata labels. We'll walk through setting up ROS 2 Humble on the Pi, interfacing a USB camera using the v4l2_camera driver, deploying a lightweight YOLOv5 (nano) object detection node (using ONNX Runtime) to produce detection metadata, and implementing the rosbag2reduct node to capture data and offload it. We will also cover installing ReductStore on the Pi, configuring replication of labeled data to a central storage on your laptop (using label-based filters via the web console). This end-to-end guide is structured with clear steps, code examples, and configuration snippets to help you build and deploy the system.

The Robot Operating System (ROS) is a powerful framework for developing and managing robotic systems. It simplifies integration, communication, and development through various tools and libraries. ROS is built around a communication system that uses a publish-subscribe model to connect components, where some, like sensors or cameras, act as publishers, and others, like motors or processors, are subscribers. The data shared between these components is organized into topics.

To make the most of this data, especially when it's needed later for analysis, debugging, or sharing, it's crucial to store it efficiently. In this article, we'll dive into three methods for storing ROS topics, comparing their benefits and limitations to help you choose the best one for your needs. In case you need to gain a broader understanding of how to handle robotics data effectively, make sure to check out our article on storing and managing robotics data first.