rqt_plot not plotting data

Question

Beginner Level Tutorial, 6. Understanding ROS Topics. Examples work as expected until I get to 1.5 Using rqt-plot. The graph shows up but I can't get data to plot (blank graph). Tried all previous steps 4 times but still no plot with x:y or theta. No errors are shown. Reload doesn't help. I'm using fuerte with ubuntu. What can I try? Thanks.

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Originally posted by moallen on ROS Answers with karma: 31 on 2013-03-26

Post score: 3

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Original comments

Comment by Rebumble on 2013-04-24:
I have this issue as well, using groovy in Ubuntu. Changing the topic name in the rqt_plot GUI doesn't change the graph, it stays blank.

Answer 1

Make sure you running turtlesim_node running, in order for necessary topics (/turtle1/pose/ in this case) to be published.

Btw however, I haven't been able either to specify topic x:y as an argument from commandline. You can work it around by giving the topic name on GUI's designated field.

Using ros-fuerte-rqt amd64 0.1.6-s1360620793~precise.

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Originally posted by 130s with karma: 10937 on 2013-03-26

This answer was ACCEPTED on the original site

Post score: 1

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Original comments

Comment by Michele Palmia on 2013-05-16:
I had the same problem and was not able to specify a topic from command line. Shouldn't this be changed in the tutorial?

Comment by 130s on 2013-05-16:
I opened an enhancement request. If you/someone could volunteer to modify the wiki I would appreciate it (right now I have no time to work on that).

Comment by Michele Palmia on 2013-05-17:
I edited the wiki to reflect the actual use of the tool.

Comment by 130s on 2013-05-17:
@Michele Palmia great!

Comment by TommyP on 2013-05-27:
In groovy it works perfectly well to plot a pose with "rosrun rqt_plot rqt_plot /uav/0/pose/pose/position/x:y:z". So what exactly is not working?

Comment by 130s on 2013-05-28:
@TommyP what does this command return dpkg -p ros-groovy-rqt-plot?

Comment by TommyP on 2013-05-28:
Version: 0.2.16-0precise-20130419-1956-+0000

Comment by 130s on 2013-08-07:
@TommyP make sure the name of the topic is exactly the full name that's published. In your case do you see /uav/0/pose/pose/position is published (check by rostopic list)?

Comment by miloup on 2014-03-26:
I have the same problem. The plot window pops-up but no plot. My turtle keeps turning around... it is about to pass out, LOL I'm using the hydro version and unfortunately I couldn't figure out what the answer says. Please help!!

Answer 2

There is a way to get subplots working - not a very convenient one though. @dirk-thomas 's comment in this thread points in the right direction: https://github.com/ros-visualization/rqt_common_plugins/issues/86#issuecomment-21653925

You can load multiple plugins/instances of a plugin into the same rqt window. The command provided in the comment didn't work for me, but you can do it manually.

Start rqt

$ rqt

Then on the top left select Plugins -> Visualization -> Plot to add a rqt_plot. Repeat this to add more plots.

Note that every plot is independent. For example, if you pause one, the other continues to run.

This does the trick for me. Hope it helps you, too!

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Originally posted by bit-pirate with karma: 2062 on 2014-08-08

This answer was NOT ACCEPTED on the original site

Post score: 4