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Task #220

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Task Group #197: [Dev] xela_models ros2 Apps Development

[Dev] Create a standalone marker publisher for visualizing Allegro hand sensor data.

Added by Sanghoon Lee about 2 months ago. Updated about 1 month ago.

Status:

Closed

Priority:

Normal

Assignee:

Sanghoon Lee

Start date:

02/17/2026

Due date:

% Done:

100%

Estimated time:

Product Code:

uAi SW:

Issue closed :

02/27/2026

Description

This package is std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4, a marker publisher for an isolated environment for visualizing Allegro hand sensor data.
I plan to develop a visualization app that subscribes to sensor data topics provided by xela_server2_ah and publishes markers in an independent environment for visualization.
Therefore, I plan to develop a standalone Taxel visualization app that operates identically to xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 but publishes separate /robot_description and /joint_states without affecting the robot control environment.

This app publishes data to the Marker topic, allowing RViz and other ROS apps to easily subscribe to this marker topic for visualization.

std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 targets the following models:
- uSCuAH (left, right)

Supported models use pre-defined profiles for each model, which can be selected as parameters at startup.

-------------------

std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4¶

1. Goal¶

Provide standalone Allegro Hand v4 tactile visualization without requiring robot control stack.

2. System Context¶

Input:
- /x_taxel_ah
- joint states from /joint_states (global) or /<ns>/joint_states (local)
Output:
- /<ns>/markers
- namespace-local TF topics (/<ns>/tf, /<ns>/tf_static)

3. Components¶

3.1 std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4_node¶

Handles baseline and marker generation.
Supports grid and urdf modes.
Uses mapping/pattern YAML for taxel placement.

3.2 robot_state_publisher (URDF mode)¶

Loads local xacro: description/xela_uSCuAH_<sequence>_modules.xacro.
Runs with use_ros2_control:=false and use_hand_controllers:=false.
Publishes TF on namespace-local remapped topics.

3.3 std_xela_joint_state_publisher_node (URDF + local mode)¶

Publishes namespace-local joint_states.
Loads profile joints by device profile.
Adds 16 active hand joints (ah_joint00~ah_joint33).

3.4 All-in-one orchestrators¶

Sim all-in-one: sim_xela_server + xela_server2_ah_with_replayer + std viz + RViz.
Real all-in-one: xela_server2_ah + std viz + RViz.

4. Model and Hand-Side Selection¶

model_name drives left/right defaults in all-in-one launch:

Left default: XR23AHLCPP
Right example: XR23AHRCPP

Selector sets:

urdf_xacro_path
sequence
pattern_yaml
mapping_yaml
hand_side
joint_states_device_profile

5. Configuration Strategy¶

Base defaults: config/base/std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.yaml
Mapping: config/maps/taxel_joint_map_new.yaml
Patterns: config/patterns/pattern_lahv4.yaml, pattern_rahv4.yaml
Joint profiles: config/joints/joint_state_profiles.yaml

Resolution order:

Base config
Mapping/pattern files
Launch overrides

6. TF Isolation Strategy¶

Default namespace: xvizah.
Topic-level isolation through TF remapping.
frame_prefix defaults empty and is optional.

7. Timing Strategy¶

Default marker_stamp_mode=keep
Default marker_time_offset_sec=-0.1
For strict sync issues, marker_stamp_mode=now is available.

8. Dependencies Boundary¶

Reuses URDF/mesh assets from xela_models and xela_ah_r2c_bringup.
No hand control controller runtime required for local URDF visualization.

9. Acceptance Criteria¶

Grid and URDF render correctly with /x_taxel_ah.
URDF local mode works without hand controller.
Left/right model selection changes URDF and pattern mapping correctly.
All-in-one launches operate with namespace-local TF and marker topics.

README¶

Standalone visualization package for Allegro Hand v4 tactile sensors.
It runs independently from hand control stack and supports namespace-local TF and local joint-state generation.

Purpose¶

Input tactile stream: /x_taxel_ah
Output markers: /<namespace>/markers
Visualization modes: grid, urdf
Local URDF mode without hand control controllers

Requirements¶

ROS 2 Humble
xela_taxel_msgs
xela_models
xela_ah_r2c_bringup
allegro_hand_bringup
xela_server2_ah (all-in-one)
sim_xela_server (sim all-in-one)

Install Dependencies (rosdep)¶


WS=~/xela_robotics/02_dev_ws
sudo sh -c "echo 'yaml file://${WS}/src/xela_apps/rosdep/xela_taxel_viz_deps.yaml' > /etc/ros/rosdep/sources.list.d/98-xela-taxel-viz.list" 
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths ${WS}/src/xela_apps/std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 -r -y --ignore-src

Build¶


cd ~/xela_robotics/02_dev_ws
colcon build --packages-select std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4
source install/setup.bash

Quick Start¶

Basic launch (default: grid mode):


ros2 launch std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.launch.py

URDF mode with local joint states:


ros2 launch std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.launch.py   viz_mode:=urdf joint_states_mode:=local

URDF mode with external /joint_states:


ros2 launch std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.launch.py   viz_mode:=urdf joint_states_mode:=global

All-in-One Launch¶

Sim all-in-one (sim_xela_server + xela_server2_ah + std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 + rviz2):


ros2 launch std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 sim_all_svc_std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.launch.py

Sim all-in-one with right-hand model selection:


ros2 launch std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 sim_all_svc_std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.launch.py   model_name:=XR23AHRCPP viz_mode:=urdf

Real all-in-one (xela_server2_ah + std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 + rviz2):


ros2 launch std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4 real_all_svc_std_xela_taxel_viz_ahv4.launch.py

Default Launch Arguments¶