Localization Launch Files#

Overview#

The Autoware localization stacks start launching at autoware_launch.xml as we mentioned at Launch Autoware page. The autoware_launch package includes tier4_localization_component.launch.xml for starting localization launch files invocation from autoware_launch.xml. This diagram describes some of the Autoware localization launch files flow at autoware_launch and autoware.universe packages.

localization-launch-flow — Autoware localization launch flow diagram

Note

The Autoware project is a large project. Therefore, as we manage the Autoware project, we utilize specific arguments in the launch files. ROS 2 offers an argument-overriding feature for these launch files. Please refer to the official ROS 2 launch documentation for further information. For instance, if we define an argument at the top-level launch, it will override the value on lower-level launches.

tier4_localization_component.launch.xml#

The tier4_localization_component.launch.xml launch file is the main localization component launch at the autoware_launch package. This launch file calls localization.launch.xml at tier4_localization_launch package from autoware.universe repository. We can modify localization launch arguments at tier4_localization_component.launch.xml.

The current localization launcher implemented by TIER IV supports multiple localization methods, both pose estimators and twist estimators. tier4_localization_component.launch.xml has two arguments to select which estimators to launch:

pose_source: This argument specifies the pose_estimator, currently supporting ndt (default), yabloc, artag and eagleye for localization. By default, Autoware launches ndt_scan_matcher for pose estimator. You can use YabLoc as a camera-based localization method. For more details on YabLoc, please refer to the README of YabLoc in autoware.universe. Also, you can use Eagleye as a GNSS & IMU & wheel odometry-based localization method. For more details on Eagleye, please refer to the Eagleye.

You can set pose_source argument on tier4_localization_component.launch.xml, for example, if you want to use eagleye as pose_source, you need to update tier4_localization_component.launch.xml like:
```
- <arg name="pose_source" default="ndt" description="select pose_estimator: ndt, yabloc, eagleye"/>
+ <arg name="pose_source" default="eagleye" description="select pose_estimator: ndt, yabloc, eagleye"/>
```
Also, you can use command-line for overriding launch arguments:
```
ros2 launch autoware_launch autoware.launch.xml ... pose_source:=eagleye
```

twist_source: This argument specifies the twist_estimator, currently supporting gyro_odom (default), and eagleye. By default, Autoware launches gyro_odometer for twist estimator. Also, you can use eagleye for the twist source, please refer to the Eagleye. If you want to change your twist source to eagleye, you can update tier4_localization_component.launch.xml like:
```
- <arg name="twist_source" default="gyro_odom" description="select twist_estimator. gyro_odom, eagleye"/>
+ <arg name="twist_source" default="eagleye" description="select twist_estimator. gyro_odom, eagleye"/>
```
Or you can use command-line for overriding launch arguments:
```
ros2 launch autoware_launch autoware.launch.xml ... twist_source:=eagleye
```

input_pointcloud: This argument specifies the input pointcloud of the localization pointcloud pipeline. The default value is /sensing/lidar/top/outlier_filtered/pointcloud which is output of the pointcloud pre-processing pipeline from sensing. You can change this value according to your LiDAR topic name, or you can choose to use concatenated point cloud:
```
- <arg name="input_pointcloud" default="/sensing/lidar/top/outlier_filtered/pointcloud" description="The topic will be used in the localization util module"/>
+ <arg name="input_pointcloud" default="/sensing/lidar/concatenated/pointcloud"/>
```

You can add every necessary argument to tier4_localization_component.launch.xml launch file like these examples. In case, if you want to change your gyro odometer twist input topic, you can add this argument on tier4_localization_component.launch.xml launch file:

+ <arg name="input_vehicle_twist_with_covariance_topic" value="<YOUR-VEHICLE-TWIST-TOPIC-NAME>"/>

Note: Gyro odometer input topic provided from velocity converter package. This package will be launched at sensor_kit. For more information, please check velocity converter package.

Note when using non NDT pose estimator#

Note

Since NDT is currently the most often used pose_estimator , the NDT diagnostics are registered for monitoring by default. When using a pose_estimator other than NDT, NDT diagnostics will always be marked as stale, causing the system to enter a safe_fault state. Depending on the parameters of emergencies, this could escalate to a full emergency, preventing autonomous driving.

To work around this, please modify the configuration file of the system_error_monitor. In the system_error_monitor.param.yaml file, /autoware/localization/performance_monitoring/matching_score represents the aggregated diagnostics for NDT. To prevent emergencies even when NDT is not launched, remove this entry from the configuration. Note that the module name /performance_monitoring/matching_score is specified in diagnostics_aggregator/localization.param.yaml.