RTC Interface

Purpose

RTC Interface is an interface to publish the decision status of behavior planning modules and receive execution command from external of an autonomous driving system.

Inner-workings / Algorithms

Usage example

// Generate instance (in this example, "intersection" is selected)
autoware::rtc_interface::RTCInterface rtc_interface(node, "intersection");

// Generate UUID
const unique_identifier_msgs::msg::UUID uuid = generateUUID(getModuleId());

// Repeat while module is running
while (...) {
  // Get safety status of the module corresponding to the module id
  const bool safe = ...

  // Get distance to the object corresponding to the module id
  const double start_distance = ...
  const double finish_distance = ...

  // Get time stamp
  const rclcpp::Time stamp = ...

  // Update status
  rtc_interface.updateCooperateStatus(uuid, safe, start_distance, finish_distance, stamp);

  if (rtc_interface.isActivated(uuid)) {
    // Execute planning
  } else {
    // Stop planning
  }
  // Get time stamp
  const rclcpp::Time stamp = ...

  // Publish status topic
  rtc_interface.publishCooperateStatus(stamp);
}

// Remove the status from array
rtc_interface.removeCooperateStatus(uuid);

Inputs / Outputs

RTCInterface (Constructor)

autoware::rtc_interface::RTCInterface(rclcpp::Node & node, const std::string & name);

Description

A constructor for autoware::rtc_interface::RTCInterface.

Input

• node : Node calling this interface
• name : Name of cooperate status array topic and cooperate commands service
  • Cooperate status array topic name : ~/{name}/cooperate_status
  • Cooperate commands service name : ~/{name}/cooperate_commands

Output

An instance of RTCInterface

publishCooperateStatus

autoware::rtc_interface::publishCooperateStatus(const rclcpp::Time & stamp)

Description

Publish registered cooperate status.

Input

• stamp : Time stamp

Output

Nothing

updateCooperateStatus

autoware::rtc_interface::updateCooperateStatus(const unique_identifier_msgs::msg::UUID & uuid, const bool safe, const double start_distance, const double finish_distance, const rclcpp::Time & stamp)

Description

Update cooperate status corresponding to uuid. If cooperate status corresponding to uuid is not registered yet, add new cooperate status.

Input

• uuid : UUID for requesting module
• safe : Safety status of requesting module
• start_distance : Distance to the start object from ego vehicle
• finish_distance : Distance to the finish object from ego vehicle
• stamp : Time stamp

Output

Nothing

removeCooperateStatus

autoware::rtc_interface::removeCooperateStatus(const unique_identifier_msgs::msg::UUID & uuid)

Description

Remove cooperate status corresponding to uuid from registered statuses.

Input

• uuid : UUID for expired module

Output

Nothing

clearCooperateStatus

autoware::rtc_interface::clearCooperateStatus()

Description

Remove all cooperate statuses.

Input

Nothing

Output

Nothing

isActivated

autoware::rtc_interface::isActivated(const unique_identifier_msgs::msg::UUID & uuid)

Description

Return received command status corresponding to uuid.

Input

• uuid : UUID for checking module

Output

If auto mode is enabled, return based on the safety status. If not, if received command is ACTIVATED, return true. If not, return false.

isRegistered

autoware::rtc_interface::isRegistered(const unique_identifier_msgs::msg::UUID & uuid)

Description

Return true if uuid is registered.

Input

• uuid : UUID for checking module

Output

If uuid is registered, return true. If not, return false.

Debugging Tools

There is a debugging tool called RTC Replayer for the RTC interface.

Assumptions / Known limits

Future extensions / Unimplemented parts