Description

This package provides ROS2 support for u-blox ZED F9P GPS receivers. Most of this driver has been written based off the original ROS(1) driver that can be found here. Changes made to support the latest firmware are listed below:

Features:

• Fast and robust
• Tested only for serial connections
• Can play back PCAP capture logs to test behavior
• Easy to add support for more log types
• Supports ASCII and binary-format logs
• Can synchronize BESTPOS, BESTVEL, and PSRDOP2 logs together in order to produce gps_common/GPSFix messages
• Can produce IMU data from receives with SPAN support

Supports:

- Ubuntu 20.04 (Tested)
- Ubuntu 22.04 (Untested)
- ROS2 Foxy and ROS2 Galactic (Tested)
- ROS2 Humble (Untested)
- Colcon
- Firmware 9

Note: This driver has to be installed locally:

mkdir -p ublox_ws/src
cd ublox_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/gokulp01/ros2-ublox-zedf9p.git
cd ..
colcon build

To run the driver:

ros2 launch ublox_gps ublox_gps_node_zedf9p-launch.py

Note: Values are published on /fix topic

Some common errors and how to fix them (this list will be updated as and when new issues are raised).

1. Could NOT find asio (missing: ASIO_INCLUDE_DIR): To fix it, install the asio package on your system.

sudo apt-get install libasio-dev Source and build again.

Options

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 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

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.

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.

Links

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