Description

Interface (driver) software, including ROS node, for inertial sensors compatible with the Microstrain Communication Library (MSCL).

MSCL is developed by LORD Sensing - Microstrain in Williston, VT.

Build Instructions

MSCL

MSCL pre-built packages can be found here: MSCL Packages

We do our best to keep ROS-MSCL up-to-date with the latest MSCL changes, but sometimes there is a delay. The currently supported version of MSCL is v61.1.6

Install instructions can be found here: How to Use MSCL

If you choose to install MSCL at a location other than /usr/share, CMakeLists.txt will need to be updated with the install path.

Building from source

1. Install ROS and create a workspace: Installing and Configuring Your ROS Environment

2. Move ros_mscl package to the your_workspace/src folder.

3. Locate and register the ros_mscl package: rospack find ros_mscl

4. Build your workspace:

    cd ~/your_workspace
    catkin_make
    source ~/your_workspace/devel/setup.bash
   

   The source command may need to be run in each terminal prior to launching a ROS node.

Launch the node and publish data

The following command will launch the driver. Keep in mind each instance needs to be run in a separate terminal.

    roslaunch ros_mscl microstrain.launch

Optional launch parameters:

• name: namespace the node will publish messages to, default: gx5
• port: serial port name to connect to the device over, default: /dev/ttyACM0
• baudrate: baud rate to open the connection with, default: 115200
• imu_rate: sample rate for IMU data (hz), default: 100
• debug: output debug info? default: false
• diagnostics: output diagnostic info? default: true

To check published topics:

rostopic list

Example: Connect to and publish data from two devices simultaneously
In two different terminals:

roslaunch ros_mscl microstrain.launch name:=sensor1234

roslaunch ros_mscl microstrain.launch name:=bestSensor port:=/dev/ttyACM1

This will launch two nodes that publish data to different namespaces:

• sensor1234, connected over port: /dev/ttyACM0
• bestSensor, connected over port: /dev/ttyACM1

An example subscriber node can be found here: ROS-MSCL Examples

License

ROS-MSCL is released under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file in the source distribution.

Copyright (c) 2020, Parker Hannifin Corp.