sensor_msgs::PointCloud2 not displaying in rviz

Question

hi,

I am new to ROS. I have read binary files of laser dataset and prepared sensor_msgs::PointCloud2 messages. But when i tried to view them in rviz, it not showing anything. Here is one of the pointcloud message from rostopic echo. I would like to know what is the problem.

--thanks

header: 
  seq: 107
  stamp: 
    secs: 0
    nsecs: 0
  frame_id: laser_link
height: 1
width: 98322
fields: 
  - 
    name: x
    offset: 0
    datatype: 7
    count: 1
  - 
    name: y
    offset: 4
    datatype: 7
    count: 1
  - 
    name: z
    offset: 8
    datatype: 7
    count: 1
  - 
    name: r
    offset: 12
    datatype: 7
    count: 1
is_bigendian: False
point_step: 16
row_step: 1573152
Data : [201, 186, 100, .........<largedata> ..................]
is_dense: True
---

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Originally posted by bvbdort on ROS Answers with karma: 3034 on 2013-12-20

Post score: 0

Answer 1

In the pointcloud display in rviz under "Status", do you see that the one message arrived in rviz?

What is your 'Fixed Frame' (Global Options in rviz)? Set it to 'laser_link', or make sure there is a tf transform from the fixed frame to laser_link.

I'm not sure how exactly rviz handles timestamps, maybe the 0 timestamp of the message is an issue (but I guess it should still display).

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Originally posted by demmeln with karma: 4306 on 2013-12-22

This answer was ACCEPTED on the original site

Post score: 0

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Original comments

Comment by bvbdort on 2013-12-22:
@demmeln /map is my fixed frame and i am publishing /map to /odom tf and have static tf for /base to /odom and /base to /laser. its not showing number of messages recieved.

Comment by VC on 2013-12-22:
@bvbdort the point cloud's frame is /laser_link according to the message, but your tf tree does not seem to have it ... name mismatch? Also, if your fixed frame is /map, the point cloud message time stamp will need to match with that of the tf broadcasters. Is the point cloud visible when you set the fixed frame to laser_link?

Comment by bvbdort on 2013-12-22:
@VC yes i mean /laser is /laser_link

Comment by bvbdort on 2014-01-06:
@demmeln its not showing number of messages recieved

Comment by demmeln on 2014-01-07:
Hmmm... Can you check for errors with roswtf and then check if the publishing node and rviz are connected in rqt_graph?

Comment by bvbdort on 2014-01-07:
@demmeln In rqt_graph its not showing anything related to rviz. No errors in roswtf.

Comment by demmeln on 2014-01-20:
Sorry for the late reply. Have you set your fixed frame to laser_link? Are you publishing the message repeatedly, or just once? The number of messages received should show up if you open the "Status" entry in rviz. In rqt_graph untick "Hide Debug" to see rviz.

Comment by bvbdort on 2014-01-20:
the problem is with data of pointcloud. When reading pointcloud data properly its working fine.