ublox

The ublox package provides support for u-blox GPS receivers. Only the serial configuration of the driver is documented here, but TCP/UDP communication is also supported by the driver (untested).

The driver was originally written by Johannes Meyer. Changes made later are detailed in the version history below.

Options

Example .yaml configuration files are included in ublox_gps/config. Consult the u-blox documentation for your device for the recommended settings.

The ublox_gps node supports the following parameters for all products and firmware versions:

• device: Path to the device port. Defaults to /dev/ttyACM0.
• raw_data: Whether the device is a raw data product. Defaults to false. Firmware <= 7.03 only.
• load: Parameters for loading the configuration to non-volatile memory. See ublox_msgs/CfgCFG.msg
  • load/mask: uint32_t. Mask of the configurations to load.
  • load/device: uint32_t. Mask which selects the devices for the load command.
• save: Parameters for saving the configuration to non-volatile memory. See ublox_msgs/CfgCFG.msg
  • save/mask: uint32_t. Mask of the configurations to save.
  • save/device: uint32_t. Mask which selects the devices for the save command.
• uart1/baudrate: Bit rate of the serial communication. Defaults to 9600.
• uart1/in: UART1 in communication protocol. Defaults to UBX, NMEA & RTCM. See CfgPRT message for possible values.
• uart1/out: UART1 out communication protocol. Defaults to UBX, NMEA & RTCM. See CfgPRT message for possible values.
• frame_id: ROS name prepended to frames produced by the node. Defaults to gps.
• rate: Rate in Hz of measurements. Defaults to 4.
• nav_rate: How often navigation solutions are published in number of measurement cycles. Defaults to 1.
• enable_ppp: Enable precise-point-positioning system. Defaults to false.
• gnss/sbas: Enable satellite-based augmentation system. Defaults to false.
• sbas/max: Maximum number of SBAS channels. Defaults to 0.
• sbas/usage: See CfgSBAS message for details. Defaults to 0.
• dynamic_model: Possible values below. Defaults to portable. See u-blox documentation for further description.
  • portable
  • stationary
  • pedestrian
  • automotive
  • sea
  • airborne1: Airborne, max acceleration = 1G
  • airborne2: Airborne, max acceleration = 2G
  • airborne4: Airborne, max acceleration = 4G
  • wristwatch
• fix_mode: Type of fixes supported: 2d, 3d or both.
• dr_limit: Max time in seconds to use dead reckoning after signal is lost. Defaults to 0.
• dat: Configuring the datum type (optional). See the CfgDAT message.
  • dat/set: If true, the node will the datum based on the parameters below (required if true). Defaults to false.
  • dat/majA: Semi-major Axis [m]
  • dat/flat: 1.0 / Flattening
  • dat/shift: [X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis] shift [m]
  • dat/rot: [X, Y, Z] rotation [s]
  • dat/scale: scale change [ppm]

For firmware version 6:

• nmea/set: If true, the NMEA will be configured with the parameters below.
• nmea/version: NMEA version. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
• nmea/num_sv: Maximum Number of SVs to report per TalkerId. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
• nmea/compat: Enable compatibility mode. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
• nmea/consider: Enable considering mode. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
• nmea/filter: Namespace for filter flags.
  • nmea/filter/pos: Disable position filtering. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/filter/msk_pos: Disable masked position filtering. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/filter/time: Disable time filtering. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/filter/date: Disable date filtering. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/filter/sbas: Enable SBAS filtering. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/filter/track: Disable track filtering. Defaults to false.

For devices with firmware >= 7:

• gnss parameters:
  • gnss/gps: Enable GPS receiver. Defaults to true.
  • gnss/glonass: Enable GLONASS receiver. Defaults to false.
  • gnss/beidou: Enable BeiDou receiver. Defaults to false.
  • gnss/qzss: Enable QZSS receiver. Defaults to false.
  • gnss/qzss_sig_cfg: QZSS signal configuration. Defaults to L1CA. See CfgGNSS message for constants.
• nmea parameters:
  • nmea/set: If true, the NMEA will be configured.
  • nmea/version: NMEA version. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
  • nmea/num_sv: Maximum Number of SVs to report per TalkerId. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
  • nmea/sv_numbering: Configures the display of satellites that do not have an NMEA-defined value. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
  • nmea/compat: Enable compatibility mode. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
  • nmea/consider: Enable considering mode. Must be set if nmea/set is true.
  • nmea/limit82: Enable strict limit to 82 characters maximum. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/high_prec: Enable high precision mode. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/filter: Namespace for filter flags.
    • nmea/filter/pos: Enable position output for failed or invalid fixes. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/filter/msk_pos: Enable position output for invalid fixes. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/filter/time: Enable time output for invalid times. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/filter/date: Enable date output for invalid dates. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/filter/gps_only: Restrict output to GPS satellites only. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/filter/track: Enable COG output even if COG is frozen. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/gnssToFilt: Filters out satellites based on their GNSS.
    • nmea/gnssToFilt/gps: Disable reporting of GPS satellites. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/gnssToFilt/sbas: Disable reporting of SBAS satellites. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/gnssToFilt/qzss: Disable reporting of QZSS satellites. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/gnssToFilt/glonass: Disable reporting of GLONASS satellites. Defaults to false.
    • nmea/gnssToFilt/beidou: Disable reporting of BeiDou satellites. Defaults to false.
  • nmea/main_talker_id: This field enables the main Talker ID to be overridden. Defaults to 0.
  • nmea/gsv_talker_id: This field enables the GSV Talker ID to be overridden. Defaults to [0, 0].

For devices with firmware >= 8:

• save_on_shutdown: If true, the node will send a UBX-UPD-SOS command to save the BBR to flash memory on shutdown. Defaults to false.
• clear_bbr: If true, the node will send a UBX-UPD-SOS command to clear the flash memory during configuration. Defaults to false.
• Additional gnss params
  • gnss/galileo: Enable Galileo receiver. Defaults to false.
  • gnss/imes: Enable IMES receiver. Defaults to false.
• nmea/bds_talker_id: (See other NMEA configuration parameters above) Sets the two characters that should be used for the BeiDou Talker ID.

For UDR/ADR devices:

• use_adr: Enable ADR/UDR. Defaults to true.
• nav_rate should be set to 1 Hz.

For HPG Reference devices:

• tmode3: Time Mode. Required. See CfgTMODE3 for constants.
• arp/lla_flag: True if the Fixed position is in Lat, Lon, Alt coordinates. False if ECEF. Required if tmode3 is set to fixed.
• arp/position: Antenna Reference Point position in [m] or [deg]. Required if tmode3 is set to fixed.
• arp/position_hp: Antenna Reference Point High Precision position in [0.1 mm] or [deg * 1e-9]. Required if tmode3 is set to fixed.
• arp/acc: Fixed position accuracy in [m]. Required if tmode3 is set to fixed.
• sv_in/reset: Whether or not to reset the survey in upon initialization. If false, it will only reset if the TMODE is disabled. Defaults to true.
• sv_in/min_dur: The minimum Survey-In Duration time in seconds. Required tmode3 is set to survey in.
• sv_in/acc_lim: The minimum accuracy level of the survey in position in meters. Required tmode3 is set to survey in.

For HPG Rover devices:

• dgnss_mode: The Differential GNSS mode. Defaults to RTK FIXED. See CfgDGNSS message for constants.

For TIM devices:

• tim_tm2: Enable this message for GPS time-stamps everytime an external interrupt signal is received.

For FTS devices:

• currently unimplemented. See FtsProduct class in ublox_gps package node.h & node.cpp files.

Fix Topics

~fix(sensor_msgs/NavSatFix)

Navigation Satellite fix.

~fix_velocity(geometry_msgs/TwistWithCovarianceStamped)

Velocity in local ENU frame.

INF messages

To enable printing INF messages to the ROS console, set the parameters below.

• inf/all: This is the default value for the INF parameters below, which enable printing u-blox INF messages to the ROS console. It defaults to true. Individual message types can be turned off by setting their corresponding parameter to false.
• inf/debug: Whether to configure the UBX and NMEA ports to send Debug messages and print received INF-Debug messages to ROS_DEBUG console.
• inf/error: Whether to enable Error messages for the UBX and NMEA ports and print received INF-Error messages to ROS_ERROR console.
• inf/notice: Whether to enable Notice messages for the UBX and NMEA ports and print received INF-Notice messages to ROS_INFO` console.
• inf/test: Whether to enable Test messages for the UBX and NMEA ports and print received INF-Test messages to ROS_INFO console.
• inf/warning: Whether to enable Warning messages for the UBX and NMEA ports and print received INF-Warning messages to the ROS_WARN console.

Additional Topics

To publish a given u-blox message to a ROS topic, set the parameter shown below to true. The node sets the rate of the u-blox messages to 1 measurement cycle.

All messages

• publish/all: This is the default value for publish/<class>/all parameters below. It defaults to false. Individual message classes and messages can be enabled or disabled by setting the parameters described below to false.

AID messages

• publish/aid/all: This is the default value for the publish/aid/<message> parameters below. It defaults to publish/all. Individual messages can be enabled or disabled by setting the parameters below.
• publish/aid/alm: Topic ~aidalm
• publish/aid/eph: Topic ~aideph
• publish/aid/hui: Topic ~aidhui

RXM messages

• publish/rxm/all: This is the default value for the publish/rxm/<message> parameters below. It defaults to publish/all. Individual messages can be enabled or disabled by setting the parameters below.
• publish/rxm/alm: Topic ~rxmalm
• publish/rxm/eph: Topic ~rxmeph
• publish/rxm/raw: Topic ~rxmraw. Type is either RxmRAW or RxmRAWX depending on firmware version.
• publish/rxm/rtcm: Topic ~rxmrtcm. Firmware >= 8 only
• publish/rxm/sfrb: Topic ~rxmsfrb. Type is either RxmSFRB or RxmSFRBX depending on firmware version.

MON messages

• publish/mon/all: This is the default value for the publish/mon/<message> parameters below. It defaults to publish/all. Individual messages can be enabled or disabled by setting the parameters below.
• publish/mon/hw: Topic ~monhw

NAV messages

• publish/nav/all: This is the default value for the publish/mon/<message> parameters below. It defaults to publish/all. Individual messages can be enabled or disabled by setting the parameters below.
• publish/nav/att: Topic ~navatt. ADR/UDR devices only
• publish/nav/clock: Topic ~navclock
• publish/nav/posecef: Topic ~navposecef
• publish/nav/posllh: Topic ~navposllh. Firmware <= 6 only. For firmware 7 and above, see NavPVT
• publish/nav/pvt: Topic ~navpvt. Firmware >= 7 only.
• publish/nav/relposned: Topic ~navrelposned. HPG Rover devices only
• publish/nav/heading: Topic ~navheading. HP Position receiver devices only. For firmware 9 and above
• publish/nav/sat: Topic ~navsat
• publish/nav/sol: Topic ~navsol. Firmware <= 6 only. For firmware 7 and above, see NavPVT
• publish/nav/status: Topic ~navstatus
• publish/nav/svin: Topic ~navsvin. HPG Reference Station Devices only
• publish/nav/svinfo: Topic ~navsvinfo
• publish/nav/velned: Topic ~navvelned. Firmware <= 6 only. For firmware 7 and above, see NavPVT

ESF messages

• publish/esf/all: This is the default value for the publish/esf/<message> parameters below. It defaults to publish/all for ADR/UDR devices. Individual messages can be enabled or disabled by setting the parameters below.
• publish/esf/ins: Topic ~esfins
• publish/esf/meas: Topic ~esfmeas
• publish/esf/raw: Topic ~esfraw
• publish/esf/status: Topic ~esfstatus

HNR messages

• publish/hnr/pvt: Topic ~hnrpvt. ADR/UDR devices only

TIM messages

• publish/tim/tm2: Topic timtm2. TIM devices only

Launch

A sample launch file ublox_device.launch loads the parameters from a .yaml file in the ublox_gps/config folder, sample configuration files are included. The required arguments are node_name and param_file_name. The two topics to which you should subscribe are ~fix and ~fix_velocity. The angular component of fix_velocity is unused.

Version history

• 1.1.4:
  • Added messages for firmware 9: NavRELPOSNED9.
  • Added option to publish sensor_msgs/Imu message for High Precision Position Receiver devices with firmware version >= 9 for moving base applications (For example ZED-F9P; UBX-19009093 AppNote).
• 1.1.3:
  • Update by TUC-ProAut
  • Added raw data stream output. To publish ros messages set rosparam raw_data_stream/publish to true. To store to a logfile set rosparam set raw_data_stream/dir to the appropriated directory. This feature has nothing todo with Raw Data Products.
  • Added flag config_on_startup to deactivate configuration of ublox.
• 1.1.2:
  • BUG FIX for NavSatFix messages for firmware >=7. The NavSatFix now only uses the NavPVT message time if it is valid, otherwise it uses ROS time.
  • BUG FIX for TMODE3 Fixed mode configuration. The ARP High Precision position is now configured correctly.
  • BUG FIX for NavDGPS message which had the wrong Message ID.
  • After GNSS configuration & reset, I/O resets automatically, without need for restart.
  • Added UBX-UPD messages. For firmware version 8, the node can now save the flash memory on shutdown and clear the flash memory during configuration based on ROS params.
  • Added CfgGPS message and MonHW6 message for firmware version 6.
  • Added respawn parameters to example launch file.
  • Added parameters to load/save configuration.
  • Added raw_data parameter for Raw Data Products.
  • Changed name of “subscribe” parameter namespace to “publish” for clarity.
  • Migrated all callback handling to callback.h from gps.h and gps.cpp. ACK messages are now processed through callback handlers.
  • Modified how the I/O stream is initialized so that the node now handles parsing the port string.
  • Changed class names of Ublox product components (e.g. UbloxTim -> TimProduct) for clarity.
  • Cleaned up ublox custom serialization classes by adding typedefs and using count to determine repeating block statements instead of using try-catch statements to serialize stream.
  • Added doxygen documentation
• 1.1.1:
  • BUG FIX for acknowledgments. The last received ack message was accessed by multiple threads but was not atomic. This variable is now thread safe.
  • BUG FIX for GNSS configuration for Firmware 8, the GNSS configuration is now verified & modified properly.
  • BUG FIX for fix diagnostics. NumSV was displaying incorrectly. For firmware versions >=7, the NavPVT flags variable is now compared to the constants from the NavPVT message not NavSOL.
  • Removed ublox_version param, value is now determined by parsing MonVER.
  • Organized parameters into namespaces.
  • Better parameter checking. Checks that unsigned ints and vectors of unsigned ints are in bounds.
  • Changed rtcm/rate parameter to a vector instead of a scalar, now each RTCM id can be set to a different rate.
  • Diagnostic variables are displayed more clearly with units included.
  • For HPG Rovers, added diagnostic updater for Carrier Phase Solution.
  • Added CfgNMEA messages for each firmware version and a CfgDAT message, as well as parameters to configure the NMEA and Datum.
  • Added constants for NavSAT_SV flags bit mask.
• 1.1.0:
  • BUG FIX for NAV-PVT messages for firmware 7. The NAV-PVT message is shorter for firmware version 7, the new message is NavPVT7
  • BUG FIX for SBAS configuration, it now configures SBAS only if the device is SBAS capable. Previously, if enable_sbas was set to false, it would not configure, meaning that SBAS could not be turned off.
  • BUG FIX, the baudrate of the serial I/O port was not configured correctly, on the device it was set to the user desired settings, but on the computer it was always set to 4800.
  • BUG FIX, Diagnostics for Nav Status are now updated in firmware version 6.
  • BUG FIX, The method which waited for ACKs now checks if the ACK is from the correct class and message ID.
  • Added messages for CfgTMODE3, CfgHNR, CfgRST, CfgINF, NavATT, ESF messages, Inf message (for all INF types), HnrPVT, MgaGAL, NavSAT, MonHw, NavPVT7 (for firmware version 7).
  • Restructured Node class so that it now uses composition. The main node contains instances of classes which implement UBloxInterface, and calls the methods for each interface added to the node. The classes which implement the interface add new features that are not generic to all firmware versions or products. Each firmware version (6-8) has an interface, and each product category has one (SPG, HPG REF, HPG ROV, TIM, FTS, ADR/UDR). The product type is determined from parsing the MonVER message.
  • Added implementations of ComponentInterface called UbloxHpgRef and UbloxHpgRov for HPG reference station and rover devices. The reference station tmode3 can be configured upon startup (see Options section) and the rover dgnss mode can be set. After survey in, once the reference station entire time mode, the nav_rate is set to the user desired value (it must be 1 Hz during survey-in) and the RTCM output messages are enabled. The state can be monitored through the rqt_runtime_monitor. These classes were tested on C94-M8P devices.
  • Added an implementation of ComponentInterface called UbloxAdrUdr for ADR/UDR devices. It which subscribes to NavATT and ESF messages and configures useAdr. The diagnostics monitor specific to these devices is not implemented. This class has not been tested on a hardware device.
  • Added a partial implementation of UbloxTim for TIM devices which subscribes to RxmRAWX and RxmSFRBX messages. The getRosParams(), configureUblox(), and initializeDiagnostics() methods are unimplemented.
  • Added a skeleton class for UbloxFts for FTS devices which is unimplemented. See the ublox_gps node.cpp and node.h files.
  • Changed how GNSS is configured in firmware version 8. The documentation recommends a cold restart after reconfiguring the GNSS, and will reset the device if it receives a CfgGNSS message, even if the settings do not change. For firmware version 8, before reconfiguring, the node first checks if the current GNSS settings are the same as the desired settings. If so, it will not send a CfgGNSS message to the device. After reconfiguring, it will cold reset the GNSS.
  • Migrated I/O initialization to the Gps class from the Node class.
  • INF messages are now printed to the ROS console.
  • Changed how debug statements are displayed. If the debug parameter is set to 1 or greater, it prints debug messages.
• 1.0.0:
  • Added messages for firmware 8: NavPVT, RxmRAWX, RxmSFRBX.
  • Modified ConfigGNSS and MonVER to include repeated blocks and added ConfigGNSS_Block (configures all GNSS at once) and MonVER_Extension (for MonVER_Char blocks).
  • MonVER info is now published upon initialization.
  • Fixed SBAS crashing issue (node crashed if device didn’t have SBAS capabilities)
  • Modified remaining messages to update to firmware 8
  • Added UbloxNode abstract class which does all previous node functions which are the same for all firmware versions. Added subclasses which do functions specific to a given firmware version (e.g. subscribing to NavPVT messages).
  • Added a read lock to AsyncWorker
  • Removed hard-coded values from Gps and Node classes specific to a certain device and changed them to configurable parameters. Modified example launch file accordingly.
  • Added example parameter yaml files and launch file to load parameters from this file.
  • Moved implementations of Callback functions into callback.h (from gps.h and gps.cpp)
  • Updated formatting of some files per google style guide spec (e.g. 80 chars per line).
• 0.0.5:
  • Reformat files under ublox_gps
• 0.0.4:
  • Added install targets.
• 0.0.3:
  • Added the enable_glonass, enable_beidou and enable_ppp options.
  • Added the ublox_version option. Consult known issues for important details.
  • Added numSVs field to the RQT monitor.
• 0.0.2:
  • Changed meas_rate to simply rate, which is in Hz. meas_rate is computed automatically.
• 0.0.1:
  • All topics are now published on a private node handle.
  • Velocities are published as stamped twist messages with covariance. Angular components are unused.
  • hAcc, vAcc and sAcc are used to generate diagonal covariances.
  • Velocities use the correct convention: X-Y-Z = East-North-Up.
  • 2D or 3D fix correspond to STATUS_FIX (previously only 3D).
  • fix and fix_velocity are time-stamped synchronously, using the iTOW to check arrival times.
  • Added options for changing the CFG-NAV5 settings (see above).
  • Added support for diagnostic_updater.
  • “received ACK” messages are elevated to debug level 2.
  • Corrected issue where baudrate was not set correctly using rosparam.
  • Corrected issue where socket destructors were not called.
• 0.0.0:
  • Forked from https://github.com/tu-darmstadt-ros-pkg/ublox
  • Updated to use catkin.

Adding new features

Adding new messages

1. Create the .msg file and add it to ublox_msgs/msg. Make sure the file includes the constants CLASS_ID and MESSAGE_ID.

2. Modify ublox_msgs/include/ublox_msgs/ublox_msgs.h. a. Include the message header. b. Make sure the message’s class constant is declared in the ublox_msgs::Class namespace. c. Declare the message’s ID constant in the ublox_messages::Message::<CLASS_NAME> namespace.

3. Declare the message in ublox_msgs/src/ublox_msgs.cpp.

4. If the message has a repeated or optional block of varying size, create an additional message for the repeating block and include it in the message. a. Include the block message in the ublox_msgs/include/ublox_msgs/ublox_msgs.h file. b. Modify ublox_msgs/include/ublox/serialization/ublox_msgs.h and add a custom Serializer. If the message doesn’t include the number of repeating/optional blocks as a parameter, you can infer it from the count/size of the message, which is the length of the payload.

5. Modify ublox_gps/src/node.cpp (and the header file if necessary) to either subscribe to the message or send the configuration message. Be sure to modify the appropriate subscribe function. For messages which apply to all firmware/hardware, modify UbloxNode::subscribe(). Otherwise modify the appropriate firmware or hardware’s subscribe function, e.g. UbloxFirmware8::subscribe(), HpgRovProduct::subscribe(). If the message is a configuration message, consider modifying ublox_gps/src/gps.cpp (and the header file) to add a configuration function.

One message protocol for multiple IDs (e.g. INF message)

If a given message protocol applies to multiple message IDs (e.g. the Inf message), do not include the message ID in the message itself. When declaring the message, for the first declaration, use DECLARE_UBLOX_MESSAGE macro. For the following declarations use the DECLARE_UBLOX_MESSAGE_ID macro.

Adding device / firmware specific functionality

The node.cpp file in ublox_gps contains a main Node class called UbloxNode which acts as the ROS Node and handles the node initialization, publishers, and diagnostics. UbloxNode contains a vector components_ of instances of ComponentInterface. The UbloxNode::initialize() calls each component’s public interface methods. The node contains components for both the firmware version and the product category, which are added after parsing the MonVER message. Any class which implements ComponentInterface can be added to the UbloxNode components_ vector and its methods will be called by UbloxNode. Simply add an implementation of ComponentInterface to the ublox_gps node.h and node.cpp files. Behavior specific to a given firmware or product should not be implemented in the UbloxNode class and instead should be implemented in an implementation of ComponentInterface.

Currently there are implementations of ComponentInterface for firmware versions 6-8 and product categories HpgRefProduct, HpgRovProduct, AdrUdrProduct, TimProduct, FtsProduct. SPG products do not have their own implementation of ComponentInterface, since the Firmware classes implement all of the behavior of SPG devices.

HpgRefProduct and HpgRovProduct have been tested on the C94-M8P device.

Adding new parameters

1. Modify the getRosParams() method in the appropriate implementation of ComponentInterface (e.g. UbloxNode, UbloxFirmware8, HpgRefProduct, etc.) and get the parameter. Group multiple related parameters into a namespace. Use all lower case names for parameters and namespaces separated with underscores.
   • If the type is an unsigned integer (of any size) or vector of unsigned integers, use the ublox_node::getRosUint method which will verify the bounds of the parameter.
   • If the type is an int8 or int16 or vector of int8’s or int16’s, use the ublox_nod::getRosInt method which will verify the bounds of the parameter. (This method can also be used for int32’s but ROS has methods to get int32 parameters as well).
2. If the parameter is used during configuration also modify the ComponentInterface’s configureUblox() method to send the appropriate configuration message. Do not send configuration messages in getRosParams().
3. Modify this README file and add the parameter name and description in the appropriate section. State whether there is a default value or if the parameter is required.
4. Modify one of the sample .yaml configuration files in ublox_gps/config to include the parameter or add a new sample .yaml for your device.

Known Issues

Unimplemented / Untested Devices

TimProduct and FtsProduct are currently unimplemented skeleton classes. AdrUdrProduct is implemented, with the exception of initializeRosDiagnostics() and has not been tested on hardware.

UbloxFirmware7 has not been properly tested on a device with firmware version 7. UbloxFirmware6 has been tested on a device with firmware version 8, but not with firmware version 6.

Debugging

For debugging messages set the debug parameter to > 0. The range for debug is 0-4. At level 1 it prints configuration messages and checksum errors, at level 2 it also prints ACK/NACK messages and sent messages. At level 3 it prints the received bytes being decoded by a specific message reader. At level 4 it prints the incoming buffer before it is split by message header.

Troubleshooting

1. Why can’t the ublox_gps node open my device, even though I have correctly specified the path in /dev?
   • Make sure you are the owner of the device, or a member of dialout group.

Links

Consult the official protocol spec for details on packets supported by u-blox devices.

Changelog for package ublox_gps

2.3.0 (2022-04-13)

• Revamp the building of the driver for modern ROS 2 practices.
• Fix parameter declaration types. (#146)
• Add the types to declared parameters. (#141)
• Add UDP support (#140)
• add Ublox ZED_F9P config (#131)
• Fix warnings in launch.
• [FEAT]: add launch and config directories to 'intall' package to avoid wrong launch location (#125)
• Fix wrong variable name in launch (#120)
• Contributors: CHAIWIT PHONKHEN, Chao Qu, Chris Lalancette, Daisuke Nishimatsu, Davidson Daniel Rojas Cediel, Kevin Hallenbeck

2.0.0 (2020-10-13)

• Initial ROS 2 port to Dashing
• Create publishers based on ROS parameters (#1)
• Make sure to reset for survey-in mode.
• Make sure to depend on tf2 properly.
• Make sure to have package.xml depend on ament_cmake_ros
• Fix getting RTCM ids and rates.
• Increase the timeout for NavPVT messages during Survey-In config.
• Configure the base more accurately.
• Update rover configuration.
• Create ROS 2 launch files.
• Finish porting configs to ROS 2.
• Fix heading output to comply with REP-103
• Make ublox_gps composable.
• Fixes pointed out by clang-tidy.
• Rename rawDataStreamPa member variable to raw_data_stream_pa
• Fix a bug for reads of zero size.
• Re-enable logging in the AsyncWorker.
• Switch a couple more catch blocks to const.
• Remove -ggdb3 flag from CMakeLists.txt.
• Fix a few bugs pointed out by valgrind.
• Pass the logger down to the Gps level.
• Minor cleanup in the gps code.
• More fixes for declaring parameters.
• Declare more parameters.
• Declare more parameters correctly.
• More fixes so that we get the correct rates.
• More fixes around the codebase.
• Mark constants as such.
• Remove declareRosBoolean.
• Update configuration files for ROS 2.
• Port ublox_gps to ROS 2.
• Start ROS 2 port by COLCON_IGNORE everything.
• Split the main out into its own file.
• Move spinning out of the constructor.
• Cleanup includes in node.{hpp,cpp}.
• Move HpPosRecProduct class to its own files.
• Move HpgRefProduct class to its own files.
• Move UbloxFirmware9 class to its own files.
• Move UbloxFirmware8 class to its own files.
• Move UbloxFirmware7 to its own files.
• Move UbloxFirmware7Plus class to its own header file.
• Move UbloxFirmware6 class to its own files.
• Move UbloxFirmware class to its own files.
• Move RawDataProduct class into its own files.
• Move HpgRovProduct class to its own files.
• Move AdrUdrProduct class into its own files.
• Move TimProduct class into its own file.
• Make the node handle a member variable of UbloxNode.
• Remove the last uses of the global variable.
• Pass the nodehandle into more methods.
• Start passing the node into functions.
• Declare a few more booleans.
• Declare a lot more parameters.
• Finish removing the "enable" map.
• Move some more boolean parameters to declarations.
• Declare more parameters.
• Convert a few more parameters over to being declared.
• Declare the config_on_startup flag.
• Make dat/set a declared parameter.
• Make sure to declare the sbas parameter.
• Add in ROS2-like declare and get parameters.
• Replace templated publish call with lambdas.
• Make fix_status_service a member variable of UbloxFirmware.
• Move fixFromString and modelFromString into node.cpp
• Make gps a member variable of UbloxNode.
• Add namespaces to component_interface and fts_product.hpp
• Minor code improvements.
• Move FixDiagnostic class to its own file.
• Move UbloxTopicDiagnostic to its own file.
• Make gnss a member variable of UbloxNode.
• Move kNavSvInfoSubscribeRate into the base class that uses it.
• Remove kSubscribeRate.
• Move the kDefaultMeasRate to the class that needs it.
• Remove kROSQueueSize constant.
• Make rtcms a member variable of UbloxNode.
• Switch to a structure for RTCMs.
• Make freq_diag a member variable of UbloxNode.
• Make updater a member variable of UbloxNode.
• Make frame_id a member variable.
• Make config_on_startup_flag a member variable.
• Make meas_rate a member variable.
• Make nav_rate a class variable.
• Lots of small code updates throughout the GPS module.
• Get rid of global 'debug' variable.
• Move serialization into the ublox_serialization module.
• More rearrangement of header files to make a more sane structure.
• Move FTSProduct class into its own file.
• UbloxNode is not a component.
• Move ComponentInterface to its own file.
• Remove the one static ros::Subscriber.
• Remove last static advertiser.
• Switch to const references for std::string where possible.
• Switch to more idiomatic publisher initialization.
• Switch the one use of tf to tf2.
• Remove 'using namespace' uses.
• Switch to non-boost asio.
• Remove uses of 'new' throughout the codebase.
• Remove the last of boost from node.cpp
• Remove most of boost from node.cpp/.hpp.
• Remove a bunch of boost from node.cpp
• Remove more boost.
• Remove boost from worker.hpp
• Remove some uses of boost from async_worker.hpp
• Fully de-boostify callback.hpp
• Rearrange messages.
• Switch out boost time and mutex for std
• Remove trailing whitespace in all files.
• Rename header files to have .hpp extension.
• Contributors: Chao Qu, Chris Lalancette, Mabel Zhang

1.2.0 (2019-11-19)

• Add support for ZED-F9P new RELPOSNED message and provide heading output Fix whitespacing... Add RELPOSNED9 message to compile
• Fix for corrupted diagnostics messages Before the diagnostic structs were copied, but the pointers in FrequencyStatusParams still pointed to the old/freed objects.
• Show TMODE3 diagnostics OK if disabled Since there is no default for TMODE3 this is a deliberate choice
• added simple (remote) logger node for raw data stream logging

• updated raw data stream logging + moved all global/node functions to new class RawDataStreamPa (raw_data_pa .h/.c) + changed messagetype to uint8-multiarray (string can not handle non-characters)

• fix #52
• FIX: overflow bug when the nano field of the NavPVT message (which is signed and can be negative) is assigned to the nsec value of a ros time stamp (which is unsigned)
• deactivated config checks for base parts, if config_on_startup is false
• Added flag [config_on_startup]{.title-ref} to deactivate configuration of ublox.

• fixes to raw data stream + moving write_callback_ before the read_callback_, to avoid buffer copying (write_callback_ == publishing ros messages and writing to file) + publishing empty ros message during config phase to force instantiation of publisher

• renamed new topic and internal variables for raw data stream
  • from raw_data_xxx to raw_data_stream_xxx
  • this is to avoid confusion with the RawDataProduct
• updated debug message for measurement rate (added "hz" and "cycles" as units)
• TUC-ProAut: added raw data output (publishing ros messages and storing to file)
• boost::posix_time::seconds constructor requires integer argument
• Add TIM product and M8U functionality as well as the TIM-TM2 message (#27)
• Initialize set_usb_ to false by default
• Set serial port to raw mode, needed for Boost versions < 1.66.0
• Minor fixes for very old devices
• Fix potential segfault when printing Inf messages The Inf message strings are not null terminated, so we need to construct the string of the correct size from the vector of bytes instead of just printing using %s.
• In AsyncWorker::doClose(), close the stream instead of just cancelling operations
• Cleanup + modernize to make compatible with C++11
• Fix compilation with newer GCC and Boost As of now, doesn't compile with C++11 or later.
• added clear params arg
• updated config files
• added save and load configuration parameters and functions. changed how GNSS is configured & reset.
• added raw data product class and structs for frequency diagnostics
• Contributors: Chao Qu, Evan Flynn, Ferry Schoenmakers, Kartik Mohta, Michael Stoll, Peter Weissig, Stewart Worrall, Tim Clephas, Veronica Lane

1.1.2 (2017-08-02)

• README and package xml updates
• Fixed bug with enabling INF messages. Changed how messages which update fix are enabled and changed name of subscribe param namespace to publish.
• added USB Cfg PRT parameters and configuration
• Changed how I/O is initialized so that u-blox node parses the device parameter, and then calls either initializeSerial or initializeTcp in the GPS class with the appropriate parameters. Also cleaned up doxygen comments
• Added doxygen comments and made minor cleanup changes.
• Added doxygen comments
• Fixed bug with ARP Position HP conversion, which was multiplied by the wrong conversion factor. The ARP Position HP parameter is now an int8 vector instead of a float vector. Also added a getRosInt method in the node to get int8 and int16 params and changed the name of getRosParam to getRosUint.
• removing unnecessary include
• Changed how ACKs are handled. They are now handled through callback functions and are included in the CallbackHandlers.
• Created a CallbackHandlers class and migrated callbacks functionality from Gps class to the CallbackHandlers class
• Node can now save flash memory on shutdown and clear flash memory based on user params
• BUG FIX: Fix status only uses NavPVT time if the time is valid, otherwise it uses ros time. This prevents invalid times.
• added respawn params to launch file
• moved getRosParam template functions into node.h and used checkRange function for the getRosParam functions
• In config files, changed reset mode since it seems to work better
• Changed how unsigned int parameters are handled.
• Added NMEA flag params for firmware version 6 and updated readme to include NMEA params.
• Renamed cfg_gnss param namespace to gnss. Fixed bug with NMEA configuration for compat variable. Added sample config file for NMEA.
• added comments
• After resetting the device when re-configuring the GNSS, the node shuts down & must be relaunched since device address may change & serial port resets.
• Made ACK atomic since it is accessed by 2 threads (the main node & the i/o callback)
• BUG FIXES: fixed bug with waiting for acknowledgements, which wasn't timing out. Fixed bug with CfgGNSS which wasn't properly verifying the current GPS config to see if it was correct. Also added NMEA configuration functions
• debug variable is no longer static so that ublox node can set it from ROS params
• Removed ublox_version param, value is now determined by parsing MonVER. Changed name of UbloxInterface to ComponentInterface for clarity.
• Additional changes to parameters
• Moved most parameters into namespaces
• Cleaned up how parameters are check and moved the parameter parsing functions from the gps namespace to the node namespace since the node handles parameter checks. Also added CfgDAT capabilities, if dat/set param is set.
• updates to sample config files
• Change rtcm_rate parameter to a vector instead of a scalar, now each RTCM id can be set to a different rate.
• BUG FIX: Fix diagnostics num sv was displaying incorrectly. For firmware versions >=7, the flags are now compared to the constants from NavPVT not NavSOL. Also cleaned up how the diagnostics are displayed & included units. Added Carrier Phase diagnostics for HPG rovers.
• fixed bug with file path in ublox_device.launch and updated README to include information on launch files and subscribing/configuring new messages
• Contributors: Veronica Lane

1.1.0 (2017-07-17)

• Updated package xmls with new version number and corrected my email address. Also updated readme to include information about new version plus new parameter
• Updated sample config files
• Added Cfg RST message declaration and reset function. For Firmware 8, after reconfiguring the GNSS, a cold restart is initiated.
• node now configures INF messages
• Added constants for HPG Rover Diagnostic updater. Cleaned up GPS class: made method and parameter names consistent, reordered methods for clarity, and privatized some methods.
• Added NavPVT7 message since NavPVT message is a different length for firmware version 7. UbloxFirmware7Plus class now uses a template function to update diagnostics from NavPVT messages and to publish fix messages from NavPVT messages.
• Code cleanup - clarified a function name + comments
• Implemented interface for ADR/UDR messages. Added unimplemented skeleton interface for FTS messages. Added warning message if device type was not parsed correctly from MonVER.
• Cleaned up formatting + modified debug/info statements
• Changed debug statements so that they print to ROS DEBUG console. DEBUG log level is set in main node based on value of debug ros param.
• Modified Cfg GNSS for Firmware version 7, so it configures SBAS and QZSS if supported by the device
• changed receive message error print statements to only print in debug mode
• cleaned up how the tmode state was tracked for HPG reference stations. For ublox >=8, GNSS is now only configured if the current configuration is different from the desired configuration. This prevents the need for a hard-reset and prevents survey-in mode from resetting on HPG devices with the correct configuration
• I/O initialization has been entirely migrated to the GPS class, previously it was handled in both the node and GPS class. Split the HPG class into two classes, one for the REF station and one for the rover since the configuration & params did not intersect at all.
• BUG FIX: baudrate config, serial ASIO baudrate now set correctly
• Cleaned up debug print statements + code cleanup
• Added print functions for INF messages and subscribers for new MON messages
• Added NavSAT message and moved subscribers for messages deprecated in version 8 to version specific subscribe methods
• Added a UbloxInterface class. UbloxNode and Ublox firmware and hardware specific classes implement the interface. Ublox Node contains pointers to the firmware and hardware classes and calls their functions during configuration. Added a skeleton class for UbloxTim which subscribes to RawX and SFRBX messages, but has unimplemented configuration and getRosParams methods
• Changed UbloxNxNode class, ublox firmware version classes with version specific methods now inherit from UbloxFirmware. Hardware specific classes inherit from UbloxHardware. UbloxNode contains instances of each and calls the appropriate functions.
• Made NodeHandle a global variable in ublox_node namespace, publish is no longer a member function. Also took out additional node handles that were created to get parameters and just used the global node handle
• BUG FIX Firmware Version 6: nav status variable was never updated, using information from nav sol instead. CODE CLEANUP: added trailing underscores to a few class member variables. Removed * 3 multiplier for covariance in version 6. Added a diagnostic function for RTCM (currently not being used, will incorporate later)
• BUG FIX: For ublox 6 changed publisher of NavPOSLLH, NavVELNED, and NavSOL to call the custom method and not the template function. Also removed NavPOSLLH, NavVELNED, and NavSOL publishers from ublox 7 & 8 since NavPVT should be used. BUG FIX: Removed hardcoded value for NumTrackChs for CfgGNSS. CODE CLEANUP: added constants for hardcoded values + additional comments.
• For High Precision GNSS: Changed the way TMODE3 & RTCM messages are configured. If in survey-in mode, it first configures the device to survey-in, then when the survey is complete enables the RTCM messages.
• Fixed bug in Wait for ACK, it now checks that the ACK is for the expected class id and message id, also changed a few debug and error messages.
• Added Error message for ASIO read read errors and fixed a comment in cfg rate
• Includes BUG FIX (keep reading). Added Ublox messages (and subscribers or configuration methods + params) for High Precision GNSS devices: CfgDGNSS, NavRELPOSNED, NavSVIN. Also added subscriber & message for RxmRTCM. Changed MonVER processing, it now determines the protocol version, hardware type (e.g. SPG/HPG), and supported GNSS (e.g. Glonass, SBAS). SBAS can now be disabled on SBAS supported devices (previously SBAS settings were ignored if enable_sbas was false to prevent crashes, now it checks the MonVER message before trying to configure SBAS.
• Removed commented out lines which were unnecessary and added error message in async worker for read errors from asio
• Contributors: Veronica Lane

1.0.0 (2017-06-23)

• added myself as maintainer to package xmls and updated version numbers of modified packages.
• Modified example launch file to include params, also added example launch which loads paramaters from yaml file
• more code cleanup
• Code cleanup of node
• Made a node class structure. An abstract class represents nodes for all firmware versions. Version nodes inherit from this node and implement version specific functions.
• add ros console include so ros error message would print
• Moved callback class functions from gps files to callback.h
• Added read lock to async worker. Read + write buffers are now lockedduring operations
• Fixed Thread safety issues with async worker. Now uses MRSW lock and each function which makes changes to shared variables acquires the lock
• BUG FIX: fixed issues in gps & node that caused run time crashes. FrequencyStatusParam arguments were in the wrong order. Reverted to old initialize method which incremently set the serial baudrate.
• added constants for hard-coded values in gps class
• Baud rate and in/out protocol mask are now configurable through params and are no longer hard coded.
• Removed hardcoded configuration values and added constants and params for these values. Fixed MonVER print warning issue. Added RTCM config function. Removed FixMode & DynamicMode enums and used constants from messages. Changed setBaudrate name to configUart1 since it was configuring all params. If enable SBAS is set to false, does not call enable SBAS (need to change this so that it calls if SBAS is available) to prevent errors for devices without SBAS. Changed std::cout statements to ROS_INFO.
• Formatting of copyright so it's <80 char and changed std::cout in Async worker to ROS_INFO messages
• Update CfgGNSS message and serialization which now publishes and receives blocks and reads and configures all GNSS settings at once. Updated MonVER message and serialization, MonVER settings are displayed during initialization, including extension chars. Changed various std::cout messages to ROS_INFO and ROS_ERROR messages.
• Updated AID, RXM, and NAV messages to ublox 8 protocol. Added RxmSFRBX and RxmRAWX messages. Also did a 2nd pass on CFG messages for ublox 8 update. Need to serialize SFRBX.
• forgot to add new files in last commit
• Publishes Fix and Fix velocity from Nav PVT messages. Fix time stamps are from Nav PVT time instead of ros time now
• Publishes fix from Nav PVT info instead of Nav Pos LLH info. No longer compatible with firmware <=6. Now uses template publish function for most messages.
• Added Nav PVT message for protocol 8 and added publisher for ECEF messages in node.
• In C++11 shared_ptr has an explicit bool conversion
• Contributors: Kartik Mohta, Veronica Lane

0.0.5 (2016-08-06)

• Various small changes
  1. package.xml use format 2
  2. change some default values in launch files and node
  3. update readme
• clang format
• Contributors: Chao Qu

0.0.4 (2014-12-08)

• Update version number to reflect merge.
• Add install targets
• Reverted default in launch file
• Contributors: Gareth Cross, Kartik Mohta

0.0.3 (2014-10-18)

• Updated readme to reflect changes
• Added hacky ublox_version parameter to handle current limitations in driver structure
• Added MonVER, cleaned up make files a bit
• Added warning for ppp
• Added method to enable PPP
• Added settings for beidou and glonass
• Added option to run in gps only mode
• Changed param in roslaunch
• Contributors: Gareth Cross

0.0.2 (2014-10-03)

• Set better default for dr_limit in launch file
• Changed launch file to match readme
• Changed meas_rate to rate
• fix frame_id default
• add an option to specify node nanme
• Update ublox_gps.launch
• Update ublox_gps.launch
• Change to node
• Fixed erroneous max delay in diagnostic settings
• Removed unused option form launch file and readme
• Added diagnostic support
• Added options to ublox node, see README for details on changes
• Contributors: Chao Qu, Gareth Cross

0.0.1 (2014-08-15)

• Making fixes for second deployment
• Contributors: Gareth Cross

0.0.0 (2014-06-23)

• ublox: first commit
• Contributors: Chao Qu