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

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.

Interestingly, it can be compiled without ROS installed in your system!

Example usage: round trip compression / decompression;

# Use option -c for compression
cloudini_rosbag_converter -f original_rosbag.mcap -o compressed_rosbag.mcap -c

# Use option -d for decompression
cloudini_rosbag_converter -f compressed_rosbag.mcap -o restored_rosbag.mcap -d

Note that the “restored_rosbag.mcap” might be smaller than the original one, because the chunk-based ZSTD compression provided by MCAP is enabled.

How to read directly a CompressedPointCloud2 from your application

Using the point_cloud_transport plugin

You can see a practical example in test/test_plugin_publisher.cpp and test/test_plugin_subscriber.cpp

Use CloudiniSubscriberPCL (when using PCL)

A special subscriber is provided to subscribe to a topic with type point_cloud_interfaces/msg/CompressedPointCloud2 and convert its content to pcl::PointCloud2 automatically.

See example test/test_cloudini_subscriber.cpp

Alternaively, you can use the code as a template to see how convertion is implemented and crate your own version.

Example:

1. Publish a regular pointcloud from a rosbag:

# Assuming that this rosbag contains a topic called "/points"
ros2 bag play -l my_rosbag/

1. Run topic_converter as mentioned above to create a topic called “/points/compressed”:

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

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Changelog for package cloudini_ros

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

0.3.0 (2025-06-03)

0.2.0 (2025-05-31)

• fixes
• add efficient "bridge" between compressed and regular pointclouds
• add license
• Contributors: Davide Faconti