Parameters
The supported bring-up uses two YAML files:
Core parameters (map resolution/size, kernels, services, toggles)
A robot/setup file (subscribers + publishers)
Core Parameters
/elevation_mapping_node:
ros__parameters:
#### Basic parameters ########
drift_compensation_variance_inlier: 0.1
checker_layer: 'elevation' # layer name for checking the validity of the cell.
initialized_variance: 10.0 # initial variance for each cell.
resolution: 0.1 # resolution in m.
map_length: 20.0 # map's size in m.
sensor_noise_factor: 0.05 # point noise ~ sensor_noise_factor * range^2 in the sensor frame (range^2 = x^2+y^2+z^2).
mahalanobis_thresh: 2.0 # points outside this distance is outlier.
outlier_variance: 0.01 # if point is outlier, add this value to the cell.
max_drift: 0.1 # drift compensation happens only the drift is smaller than this value (for safety)
drift_compensation_alpha: 0.1 # drift compensation alpha for smoother update of drift compensation
time_variance: 0.0001 # add this value when update_variance is called.
max_variance: 100.0 # maximum variance for each cell.
initial_variance: 1000.0 # initial variance for each cell.
traversability_inlier: 0.9 # cells with higher traversability are used for drift compensation.
dilation_size: 3 # dilation filter size before traversability filter.
wall_num_thresh: 20 # if there are more points than this value, only higher points than the current height are used to make the wall more sharp.
min_height_drift_cnt: 100 # drift compensation only happens if the valid cells are more than this number.
position_noise_thresh: 0.01 # if the position change is bigger than this value, the drift compensation happens.
orientation_noise_thresh: 0.01 # if the orientation change is bigger than this value, the drift compensation happens.
position_lowpass_alpha: 0.2 # lowpass filter alpha used for detecting movements.
orientation_lowpass_alpha: 0.2 # lowpass filter alpha used for detecting movements.
min_valid_distance: 0.1 # points with shorter distance will be filtered out.
max_height_range: 10.5 # points higher than this value from sensor will be filtered out to disable ceiling.
ramped_height_range_a: 0.3 # if z > max(d - ramped_height_range_b, 0) * ramped_height_range_a + ramped_height_range_c, reject.
ramped_height_range_b: 1.0 # if z > max(d - ramped_height_range_b, 0) * ramped_height_range_a + ramped_height_range_c, reject.
ramped_height_range_c: 0.2 # if z > max(d - ramped_height_range_b, 0) * ramped_height_range_a + ramped_height_range_c, reject.
update_variance_fps: 5.0 # fps for updating variance.
update_pose_fps: 10.0 # fps for updating pose and shift the center of map.
time_interval: 0.1 # Time layer is updated with this interval.
map_acquire_fps: 5.0 # Raw map is fetched from GPU memory in this fps.
publish_statistics_fps: 1.0 # Publish statistics topic in this fps.
recordable_fps: 3.0 # Recordable fps for pointcloud.
enable_normal_arrow_publishing: false
masked_replace_service_mask_layer_name: 'mask'
save_map_default_topic: 'elevation_map'
save_map_storage_id: 'mcap'
service_namespace: '/elevation_mapping_cupy'
max_ray_length: 10.0 # maximum length for ray tracing.
cleanup_step: 0.1 # subtitute this value from validity layer at visibiltiy cleanup.
cleanup_cos_thresh: 0.1 # subtitute this value from validity layer at visibiltiy cleanup.
safe_thresh: 0.7 # if traversability is smaller, it is counted as unsafe cell.
safe_min_thresh: 0.4 # polygon is unsafe if there exists lower traversability than this.
max_unsafe_n: 10 # if the number of cells under safe_thresh exceeds this value, polygon is unsafe.
overlap_clear_range_xy: 4.0 # xy range [m] for clearing overlapped area. this defines the valid area for overlap clearance. (used for multi floor setting)
overlap_clear_range_z: 2.0 # z range [m] for clearing overlapped area. cells outside this range will be cleared. (used for multi floor setting)
# Default frame configuration (can be overridden in robot-specific configs)
map_frame: 'odom' # The map frame where the odometry source uses.
base_frame: 'base_link' # The robot's base frame. This frame will be a center of the map.
corrected_map_frame: 'odom'
#### Feature toggles ########
enable_edge_sharpen: true
enable_visibility_cleanup: true
enable_drift_compensation: true
enable_overlap_clearance: true
enable_pointcloud_publishing: false
enable_drift_corrected_TF_publishing: false
#### Traversability filter ########
use_chainer: false # If false, uses the PyTorch backend (GPU).
#### Upper bound ########
use_only_above_for_upper_bound: false
#### Initializer ########
initialize_method: 'linear' # Choose one from 'nearest', 'linear', 'cubic'
initialize_frame_id: ['base_link'] # One tf (like ['footprint'] ) initializes a square around it.
initialize_tf_offset: [0.0] # Optional z-offset(s) for initializer (same length as initialize_frame_id).
dilation_size_initialize: 2 # dilation size after the init.
initialize_tf_grid_size: 1.0 # This is not used if number of tf is more than 3.
use_initializer_at_start: true # Use initializer when the node starts.
#### Default Plugins ########
# plugin_config_file is resolved internally (package share) by the node.
Golden-Path Setup (Synthetic Demo)
/elevation_mapping_node:
ros__parameters:
# Frames (must match the synthetic publisher)
map_frame: "map"
base_frame: "base_link"
corrected_map_frame: "map"
# One deterministic pointcloud input (no image/semantic fusion in the supported surface).
subscribers:
depth:
topic_name: "/camera/depth/points"
data_type: "pointcloud"
# Single output topic for RViz + tests.
publishers:
elevation_map:
layers: ["elevation", "variance", "traversability"]
basic_layers: ["elevation"]
fps: 10.0Example Robot Setup (Menzi)
/elevation_mapping_node:
ros__parameters:
subscribers:
front_cam:
topic_name: '/ouster_points_self_filtered'
data_type: pointcloud
publishers:
elevation_map_raw:
layers: ['elevation', 'traversability', 'variance']
basic_layers: ['elevation']
fps: 5.0
elevation_map_filter:
layers: ['min_filter', 'smooth', 'near_base_filtered', 'despiked', 'inpaint', 'elevation']
basic_layers: ['min_filter', 'smooth', 'near_base_filtered', 'despiked', 'inpaint']
fps: 3.0
Plugin Configuration
# min_filter fills in minimum value around the invalid cell.
min_filter:
enable: True # weather to load this plugin
fill_nan: False # Fill nans to invalid cells of elevation layer.
is_height_layer: True # If this is a height layer (such as elevation) or not (such as traversability)
layer_name: "min_filter" # The layer name.
extra_params: # This params are passed to the plugin class on initialization.
dilation_size: 1 # The patch size to apply
iteration_n: 30 # The number of iterations
# Apply smoothing.
smooth_filter:
enable: True
fill_nan: False
is_height_layer: True
layer_name: "smooth"
extra_params:
input_layer_name: "min_filter"
# Reject close-range above-base returns before despiking. This is meant for
# BASE-centered digging maps where weather/dust can create floating points that
# block later ground observations.
near_base_height_filter:
enable: True
fill_nan: False
is_height_layer: True
layer_name: "near_base_filtered"
extra_params:
input_layer_name: "elevation"
radius_m: 4.0
max_allowed_height_m: 0.5
# Remove isolated positive spikes before inpainting. This is intentionally
# asymmetric: upward one/few-cell towers are clipped, trench drops are kept.
positive_spike_filter:
enable: True
fill_nan: False
is_height_layer: True
layer_name: "despiked_coarse"
extra_params:
input_layer_name: "near_base_filtered"
median_filter_size: 5
spike_height_diff_m: 0.35
support_height_tolerance_m: 0.12
max_support_neighbor_count: 1
max_component_cells: 4
# A second narrower cleanup pass catches the smaller shovel-local residual bumps
# that survive the coarse tower filter while still preserving supported walls.
positive_spike_filter_cleanup:
type: "positive_spike_filter"
enable: True
fill_nan: False
is_height_layer: True
layer_name: "despiked"
extra_params:
input_layer_name: "despiked_coarse"
median_filter_size: 3
spike_height_diff_m: 0.08
support_height_tolerance_m: 0.02
max_support_neighbor_count: 1
max_component_cells: 2
edge_invalid_neighbor_count_min: 3
edge_peak_diff_m: 0.12
edge_similarity_tolerance_m: 0.05
edge_max_similar_neighbor_count: 1
# Inpaint the cleaned surface so downstream digging keeps hole filling without
# reintroducing the rejected spikes.
inpainting:
enable: True
fill_nan: False
is_height_layer: True
layer_name: "inpaint"
extra_params:
method: "telea" # telea or ns
input_layer_name: "despiked"
max_hole_area: 25 # 5x5 cells at 0.1m resolution
fill_border_holes: False # boundary-connected invalid regions stay unknown
erosion:
enable: True
fill_nan: False
is_height_layer: False
layer_name: "erosion"
extra_params:
input_layer_name: "traversability"
dilation_size: 3
iteration_n: 20
reverse: True