ROS2 specific libraries and utilities

cloudini_topic_converter

A simple node that subscribes to one of these two topic types and publishes the other:

• sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2
• point_cloud_interfaces/msg/CompressedPointCloud2

It is genrally more efficient than using the point_cloud_transport because the latter would:

1. Receive a serialized DDS message.
2. Convert that to CompressedPointCloud2.
3. Do the actual decompression.
4. Convert PointCloud2 to a serialized DDS message.

Instead, we work directly with raw serialized messages, bypassing the ROS type system, skipping steps 2 and 4 in the list above.

Parameters

• topic_input (string): name of the topic to subscribe to.
• topic_output (string): name of the topic to publish into.
• compressing(bool): true if you are subscribing to a regular pointcloud2, and you want to compress it. False if you are subscribing to a compressed topic and you want to decompress it.
• resolution (double): resolution of floating point fields in meters. Default: 0.001

Example usage

To convert a regular sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2 to a compressed one:

ros2 run cloudini_ros cloudini_topic_converter --ros-args \
    -p compressing:=true  \
    -p topic_input:=/points  \
    -p topic_output:=/points/compressed

To decompress that topic back in to its original form:

ros2 run cloudini_ros cloudini_topic_converter --ros-args \
    -p compressing:=false  \
    -p topic_input:=/points/compressed  \
    -p topic_output:=/points/decompressed

Composable Node (Component Container)

The topic converter is also available as a composable node, allowing it to be loaded into a component container for reduced overhead when running multiple nodes in the same process.

# Start a component container
ros2 run rclcpp_components component_container

# Load the topic converter as a component
ros2 component load /ComponentManager cloudini_ros CloudiniPointcloudConverter \
  -p compressing:=true \
  -p topic_input:=/points \
  -p topic_output:=/points/compressed \
  -p resolution:=0.001

Or via launch file:

from launch_ros.actions import ComposableNodeContainer, LoadComposableNodes
from launch_ros.descriptions import ComposableNode

container = ComposableNodeContainer(
    name='cloudini_container',
    namespace='',
    package='rclcpp_components',
    executable='component_container',
)

converter = LoadComposableNodes(
    target_container='cloudini_container',
    composable_node_descriptions=[
        ComposableNode(
            package='cloudini_ros',
            plugin='CloudiniPointcloudConverter',
            parameters=[{
                'compressing': True,
                'topic_input': '/points',
                'topic_output': '/points/compressed',
                'resolution': 0.001,
            }],
        ),
    ],
)

cloudini_rosbag_converter

A command line tool that, given a rosbag (limited to MCAP format), converts all sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2 topics into compressed point_cloud_interfaces/msg/CompressedPointCloud2 of vice-versa.

Encoding/decoding is faster than general-purpose compression algorithms and achieves a better compression ratio at 1mm resolution.

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Changelog for package cloudini_ros

1.0.4 (2026-04-06)

• fix(ros): use ament_target_dependencies for pcl_conversions pcl_conversions 2.8.0 on Kilted switched from ament_export_include_directories to ament_export_targets, making ${pcl_conversions_INCLUDE_DIRS} empty and breaking the buildfarm. Use ament_target_dependencies which handles both old-style (INCLUDE_DIRS) and new-style (TARGETS) exports idiomatically. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <<noreply@anthropic.com>>
• Contributors: Davide Faconti

1.0.2 (2026-03-04)

1.0.1 (2026-03-01)

1.0.0 (2026-02-21)

• feat: make topic_converter composable for component container usage Build topic_converter as a shared component library with rclcpp_components, while keeping the standalone executable via EXECUTABLE directive. Intra-process comms moved into constructor so it works in both standalone and component container modes.
• feat: add convenience API for compressing PointCloud2 directly (#58) Add SerializeCompressedPointCloud2() and ConvertToRosPointCloud2() to allow users to compress sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2 without the topic_converter node. Includes test_direct_publisher example node and CLAUDE.md documentation. Also removes redundant PCL_INCLUDE_DIRS from test_cloudini_subscriber target.
• Fixed cmake issues and added some improvements (#55)
• fix resolution profile not applied in ros_topic_converter (#49)
• Contributors: Alireza Moayyedi, Davide Faconti, ペンギンの何か

0.11.1 (2025-12-12)

• try fixing build in ROS
• Contributors: Davide Faconti

0.11.0 (2025-11-29)

• fix typo (#42)
• add better Draco benchmarking
• Contributors: Bastian Lampe, Davide Faconti

0.10.0 (2025-10-13)

• cherry picking change from #38 . Better function name Thanks \@Tanishq30052002 for the suggestions
• tons of ROS examples and utilities
• files renamed
• Contributors: Davide Faconti

0.9.0 (2025-10-11)

• fix compilation
• fix mcap_converter
• Contributors: Davide Faconti

0.8.0 (2025-10-09)

• Merge branch 'main' into msadowski/release_foxglove_extension
• Merge pull request #33 from facontidavide/refactor_ros_interface Refactor ros interface
• fixed topic_converter
• changes API
• fixed benchmark
• updated benchmarks
• Preprare ros release (#28)
• Contributors: Davide Faconti

0.7.0 (2025-09-19)

0.6.1 (2025-08-28)

0.5.0 (2025-06-30)

0.4.0 (2025-06-15)

• updated README
• Contributors: Davide Faconti

0.3.3 (2025-06-11)

0.3.1 (2025-06-10)

• Merge branch 'main' of github.com:facontidavide/cloudini
• Update CMakeLists.txt
• Included ROS 2 lint testing (#3) Co-authored-by: Davide Faconti <<davide.faconti@gmail.com>>
• Contributors: Alejandro Hernández Cordero, Davide Faconti

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