Issue with Visualizing 3D LiDAR Points in RViz - "Could not transform from [scan_link] to [odom]"

[torresmoreno]

Hi,
I'm encountering an error when trying to visualize the 3D LiDAR points in RViz. The error message is: "Could not transform from [scan_link] to [odom]". This issue started occurring recently, and I haven't changed my setup which was previously working fine.

Screenshot:

Additional Information:
Gazebo version: Harmonic
ROS version: Jazzy

Any suggestions or guidance on how to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[dudasdavid]

Please provide your launch file and/or your repo in case you did any changes.

[torresmoreno]

Hi David, thank you for your answer.
I think the problem is related to Gazebo (see this issue also)
Anyway, this is my launch file:

import os
from launch import LaunchDescription
from launch.actions import DeclareLaunchArgument, IncludeLaunchDescription
from launch.conditions import IfCondition
from launch.launch_description_sources import PythonLaunchDescriptionSource
from launch.substitutions import LaunchConfiguration, PathJoinSubstitution, Command
from launch_ros.actions import Node
from ament_index_python.packages import get_package_share_directory

def generate_launch_description():

    pkg_bme_gazebo_sensors = get_package_share_directory('bme_gazebo_sensors')

    gazebo_models_path, ignore_last_dir = os.path.split(pkg_bme_gazebo_sensors)
    os.environ["GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH"] += os.pathsep + gazebo_models_path

    rviz_launch_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'rviz', default_value='true',
        description='Open RViz'
    )

    rviz_config_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'rviz_config', default_value='rviz.rviz',
        description='RViz config file'
    )

    world_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'world', default_value='home.sdf',
        description='Name of the Gazebo world file to load'
    )

    model_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'model', default_value='mogi_bot.urdf',
        description='Name of the URDF description to load'
    )

    x_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'x', default_value='2.5',
        description='x coordinate of spawned robot'
    )

    y_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'y', default_value='1.5',
        description='y coordinate of spawned robot'
    )

    yaw_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'yaw', default_value='-1.5707',
        description='yaw angle of spawned robot'
    )

    sim_time_arg = DeclareLaunchArgument(
        'use_sim_time', default_value='True',
        description='Flag to enable use_sim_time'
    )

    # Define the path to your URDF or Xacro file
    urdf_file_path = PathJoinSubstitution([
        pkg_bme_gazebo_sensors,  # Replace with your package name
        "urdf",
        LaunchConfiguration('model')  # Replace with your URDF or Xacro file
    ])

    world_launch = IncludeLaunchDescription(
        PythonLaunchDescriptionSource(
            os.path.join(pkg_bme_gazebo_sensors, 'launch', 'world.launch.py'),
        ),
        launch_arguments={
        'world': LaunchConfiguration('world'),
        }.items()
    )

    # Launch rviz
    rviz_node = Node(
        package='rviz2',
        executable='rviz2',
        arguments=['-d', PathJoinSubstitution([pkg_bme_gazebo_sensors, 'rviz', LaunchConfiguration('rviz_config')])],
        condition=IfCondition(LaunchConfiguration('rviz')),
        parameters=[
            {'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time')},
        ]
    )

    # Spawn the URDF model using the `/world/<world_name>/create` service
    spawn_urdf_node = Node(
        package="ros_gz_sim",
        executable="create",
        arguments=[
            "-name", "mogi_bot",
            "-topic", "robot_description",
            "-x", LaunchConfiguration('x'), "-y", LaunchConfiguration('y'), "-z", "0.5", "-Y", LaunchConfiguration('yaw')  # Initial spawn position
        ],
        output="screen",
        parameters=[
            {'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time')},
        ]
    )

    # Node to bridge /cmd_vel and /odom
    gz_bridge_node = Node(
        package="ros_gz_bridge",
        executable="parameter_bridge",
        arguments=[
            "/clock@rosgraph_msgs/msg/Clock[gz.msgs.Clock",
            "/cmd_vel@geometry_msgs/msg/Twist@gz.msgs.Twist",
            "/odom@nav_msgs/msg/Odometry@gz.msgs.Odometry",
            "/joint_states@sensor_msgs/msg/JointState@gz.msgs.Model",
            #"/tf@tf2_msgs/msg/TFMessage@gz.msgs.Pose_V",
            #"/camera/image@sensor_msgs/msg/Image@gz.msgs.Image",
            "/camera/camera_info@sensor_msgs/msg/CameraInfo@gz.msgs.CameraInfo",
            "/imu@sensor_msgs/msg/Imu@gz.msgs.IMU",
            "/navsat@sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatFix@gz.msgs.NavSat",
            "/scan@sensor_msgs/msg/LaserScan@gz.msgs.LaserScan",
            "/scan/points@sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2@gz.msgs.PointCloudPacked",
            "/camera/depth_image@sensor_msgs/msg/Image@gz.msgs.Image",
            "/camera/points@sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2@gz.msgs.PointCloudPacked",
        ],
        output="screen",
        parameters=[
            {'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time')},
        ]
    )

    # Node to bridge camera image with image_transport and compressed_image_transport
    gz_image_bridge_node = Node(
        package="ros_gz_image",
        executable="image_bridge",
        arguments=[
            "/camera/image",
        ],
        output="screen",
        parameters=[
            {'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time'),
             'camera.image.compressed.jpeg_quality': 75},
        ],
    )

    # Relay node to republish /camera/camera_info to /camera/image/camera_info
    relay_camera_info_node = Node(
        package='topic_tools',
        executable='relay',
        name='relay_camera_info',
        output='screen',
        arguments=['camera/camera_info', 'camera/image/camera_info'],
        parameters=[
            {'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time')},
        ]
    )

    robot_state_publisher_node = Node(
        package='robot_state_publisher',
        executable='robot_state_publisher',
        name='robot_state_publisher',
        output='screen',
        parameters=[
            {'robot_description': Command(['xacro', ' ', urdf_file_path]),
             'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time')},
        ],
        remappings=[
            ('/tf', 'tf'),
            ('/tf_static', 'tf_static')
        ]
    )

    trajectory_node = Node(
        package='mogi_trajectory_server',
        executable='mogi_trajectory_server',
        name='mogi_trajectory_server'
    )

    ekf_node = Node(
        package='robot_localization',
        executable='ekf_node',
        name='ekf_filter_node',
        output='screen',
        parameters=[
            os.path.join(pkg_bme_gazebo_sensors, 'config', 'ekf.yaml'),
            {'use_sim_time': LaunchConfiguration('use_sim_time')},
             ]
    )

    trajectory_odom_topic_node = Node(
        package='mogi_trajectory_server',
        executable='mogi_trajectory_server_topic_based',
        name='mogi_trajectory_server_odom_topic',
        parameters=[{'trajectory_topic': 'trajectory_raw'},
                    {'odometry_topic': 'odom'}]
    )

    launchDescriptionObject = LaunchDescription()

    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(rviz_launch_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(rviz_config_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(world_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(model_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(x_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(y_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(yaw_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(sim_time_arg)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(world_launch)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(rviz_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(spawn_urdf_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(gz_bridge_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(gz_image_bridge_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(relay_camera_info_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(robot_state_publisher_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(trajectory_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(ekf_node)
    launchDescriptionObject.add_action(trajectory_odom_topic_node)

    return launchDescriptionObject