IWR6843AOPEVM simple ROS2 package

Official TI ROS2 driver released here: https://git.ti.com/cgit/mmwave_radar/mmwave_ti_ros/ros2_driver/

Python ROS2 pointcloud retriever for IWR6843AOPEVM mmWave device

Derived from: https://github.com/mywrong/IWR6843_TLVS

Another example: https://github.com/chopin1998/mmwave

Prerequisites

• ROS2 (Ubuntu 18.04.5 & dashing tested // Ubuntu 20.04.3 & foxy tested)
• Python3 (3.6.9 & 3.8.10 tested)
• IWR6843AOPEVM (ES2) mmWave radar device flashed with out-of-box firmware (either from this repo or inside downloaded mmwave_industrial_toolbox_x_x_x/labs/Out_Of_Box_Demo/prebuilt_binaries/ folder. Use uniflash to flash EVM (https://training.ti.com/hardware-setup-iwr6843isk-and-iwr6843isk-ods)). Set up switches as seen here:

Installation

1. Clone the repo to workspace

   cd ~/ros2_ws/src/
   

   git clone https://github.com/nhma20/iwr6843aop_pub.git
   

1. Colcon build package

   cd ~/ros2_ws/
   

   colcon build --packages-select iwr6843aop_pub
   

Usage

1. Plug in IWR6843AOPEVM, make sure CLI and data ports match (default /dev/ttyUSB0 and /dev/ttyUSB1)
2. Run ros package (make sure /opt/ros/dashing/setup.bash and /install/setup.bash are sourced)

   ros2 run iwr6843aop_pub pcl_pub
   

example with ROS2 parameters:

   ros2 run iwr6843aop_pub pcl_pub --ros-args -p cli_port:=/dev/ttyUSB0 -p data_port:=/dev/ttyUSB1 -p cfg_path:=/home/nm/ros2_ws/src/iwr6843aop_pub/cfg_files/90deg_noGroup_18m_30Hz.cfg
   

Launch example with default parameters:

   ros2 launch iwr6843aop_pub default_parameters.launch.py
   

When loading a cfg with a different antenna configuration than the previous, IWR6843AOP device must be power cycled - can be done easily by pressing the RST_SW switch, or simply unplugging and replugging the USB cable.

1. Visualize with rviz

   rviz2
   

1. ‘Add’ a new display (lower left corner)
2. Select ‘By topic’ ribbon
3. Find ‘iwr6843_pcl PointCloud2’ and add it
4. Edit ‘Fixed Frame’ to ‘iwr6843_frame’. (use a ‘static_transform_publisher’ to transform to another frame)
5. (Optional) Set point size at PointCloud2 -> Size (m) to 0.1 for better clarity

Modify

All functional code (for the purpose of this ROS package) is located at

   /iwr6843aop_pub/iwr6843aop_pub/publisher_member_function.py
   

A number of .cfg files are provided which dictate the functionality of the mmWave device. More profiles can be made with the mmWave Demo Visualizer tool: https://dev.ti.com/gallery/view/mmwave/mmWave_Demo_Visualizer/ver/3.5.0/