autoware_utils_rclcpp

Overview

The autoware_utils library is a comprehensive toolkit designed to facilitate the development of autonomous driving applications. This package provides essential utilities for rclcpp. It is extensively used in the Autoware project to handle common tasks such as handling parameters, topics and services.

Design

• parameter.hpp: Simplifies parameter declaration, retrieval, updating, and waiting.
• polling_subscriber.hpp: A subscriber class with different polling policies (latest, newest, all).

Example Code Snippets

Update Parameters Dynamically with update_param.hpp

#include <autoware_utils_rclcpp/update_param.hpp>
#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>

int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  auto node = rclcpp::Node::make_shared("param_node");

  double param_value = 0.0;
  std::vector<rclcpp::Parameter> params = node->get_parameters({"my_param"});

  if (autoware_utils::update_param(params, "my_param", param_value)) {
    RCLCPP_INFO(node->get_logger(), "Updated parameter value: %f", param_value);
  } else {
    RCLCPP_WARN(node->get_logger(), "Parameter 'my_param' not found.");
  }

  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

Subscribe to Topics with polling_subscriber.hpp

#include <autoware_utils_rclcpp/polling_subscriber.hpp>
#include <std_msgs/msg/string.hpp>
#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>

int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  auto node = rclcpp::Node::make_shared("polling_node");

  // Latest policy (default): returns the last received message, or the previous one if no new data.
  auto latest_sub = autoware_utils_rclcpp::InterProcessPollingSubscriber<
    std_msgs::msg::String>::create_subscription(node.get(), "/topic", 1);

  // Newest policy: returns the new message only, or nullptr if no new data.
  auto newest_sub = autoware_utils_rclcpp::InterProcessPollingSubscriber<
    std_msgs::msg::String, autoware_utils_rclcpp::polling_policy::Newest>::
    create_subscription(node.get(), "/topic", 1);

  // All policy: returns all received messages as a vector.
  auto all_sub = autoware_utils_rclcpp::InterProcessPollingSubscriber<
    std_msgs::msg::String, autoware_utils_rclcpp::polling_policy::All>::
    create_subscription(node.get(), "/topic", rclcpp::QoS{10});

  // Retrieve data and timestamp.
  auto msg = latest_sub->take_data();                         // std_msgs::msg::String::ConstSharedPtr
  auto stamp = latest_sub->last_taken_data_timestamp();       // std::optional<rclcpp::Time>

  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

The last_taken_data_timestamp() method returns the source timestamp of the last message retrieved by take_data() as std::optional<rclcpp::Time>.

Note: The timestamp behavior differs depending on the polling policy:

• Latest policy: The timestamp is retained until a new message is received. To get a valid timestamp, take_data() must be called at least once to retrieve a message.
• Newest/All policies: The timestamp is cleared when take_data() returns no data (nullptr or empty vector). To get a valid timestamp, the most recent take_data() call must have successfully received a message.

Changelog for package autoware_utils_rclcpp

1.6.0 (2026-02-20)

• feat(autoware_utils_rclcpp): add function to get the timestamp of the latest message (#91)

  • feat(polling_subscriber): add getter of latest_timestamp.
  • fix(rclcpp): fixed dead code.
  • add explanation of PollingSubscriber in README.md
  • update explanation of PollingSubscriber in README.md
  • add testcase to check initial value of PollingSubscriber
  • style(pre-commit): autofix
  • use std::optional instead of the magic number.
  • updated README.md for the previous commit
  • chore(autoware_utils_rclcpp): add precondition of latest_timestamp() method
  • style(pre-commit): autofix
  • change latest_timestamp() to return std::nullopt if there is no valid data received
  • style(pre-commit): autofix
  • chore(polling_subscriber): rename method name

  * style(pre-commit): autofix ---------Co-authored-by: pre-commit-ci[bot] <66853113+pre-commit-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

• Contributors: Takayuki AKAMINE

1.5.0 (2025-12-30)

1.4.2 (2025-05-21)

1.4.1 (2025-05-15)

1.4.0 (2025-04-22)

1.3.0 (2025-03-21)

• unify version

• update changelog

• feat(autoware_utils_rclcpp): split package (#40)

  • feat(autoware_utils_rclcpp): split package
  • update test

  * update readme ---------

• Contributors: Takagi, Isamu, Yutaka Kondo

• feat(autoware_utils_rclcpp): split package (#40)

  • feat(autoware_utils_rclcpp): split package
  • update test

  * update readme ---------

• Contributors: Takagi, Isamu

1.2.0 (2025-02-26)

1.1.0 (2025-01-27)

1.0.0 (2024-05-02)