[FAQ] Linux/AWR1642BOOST: ROS Development and Customization

Okay, after having looked at the "sortIncomingData() function in DataHandlerClass.cpp I noticed a few fields I need to change. I decided to try and modify this script to accept data from the AWR1642 Obstacle Detection Lab in the automotive toolbox since it had the best documentation. I changed the header size to 40 bytes as in the lab user manual and noticed that all the header categories were the same ones used in the .cpp script.

I also noticed that the TLV values in the image below were all set up in switch cases in the cpp script.

The Data I'm looking for from the ODS lab are the "range doppler" and "azimuth static heat map".

In the cpp file, Azimith static heat map looks like this:

       case READ_AZIMUTH:
            {
        
              i = 0;
            
              while (i++ < tlvLen - 1)
              {
                     //ROS_INFO("DataUARTHandler Sort Thread : Parsing Azimuth Profile i=%d and tlvLen = %u", i, tlvLen);
              }
            
              currentDatap += tlvLen;
            
              sorterState = CHECK_TLV_TYPE;
            }
            
            break;

What would I have to do here to publish the azimuth values as a rostopic? Am I on the right track? Any Resources I should look into?(unfortunately, the last link you sent appears as a broken url)

Hi Lindsay,

The link I provided earlier should be working now. The mmWave Sensors forum was merged into the overall Sensors forum and old links were temporarily unavailable.

Yes, I think you are on the right track. That READ_AZIMUTH code snippet was put there as a placeholder in case more functionality needed to be added in the future. You can look at the READ_OBJ_STRUCT code as an example of actually processing data instead of just discarding it like the current READ_AZIMUTH code does currently.

I believe the ODS lab seems to use the same Frame header format as the standard mmWave SDK mmw (out-of-box) demo which the ROS visualizer normally works with so that should make everything much easier. Please note that most other labs may have a different Frame Header format which would require changing the ROS READ_HEADER code.

Please note that you would also need to replace the ti_mmwave_rospkg/cfg/1642_2d.cfg file with the desired sensor config file from the ODS lab (which would need to enable the Azimuth Heat map if you want that data).

There are no other TI resources for publishing ROS topics but ros.org has good information. Please see the following links.
wiki.ros.org/.../Tutorials
wiki.ros.org/.../WritingPublisherSubscriber(c++)

Please reply if you have more questions or mark the thread as answered.

Regards,
John

I got the ROS code working with the ODS binary by sourcing the ODS config file and modifying the mmWaveQuickConfig.cpp file to no longer require a 'Done' signal from the radar.

The point cloud from the sensor is coming in over RViz but the switch cases in DataHandlerClass.cpp are never triggered for the case where MMWDEMO_OUTPUT_MSG_AZIMUT_STATIC_HEAT_MAP or MMWDEMO_OUTPUT_MSG_RANGE_DOPPLER_HEAT_MAP are the required field.

I enables a ROS_INFO line to show what tlvType is being seen on each iteration (ROS_INFO("DataUARTHandler Sort Thread : tlvType = %d, tlvLen = %d", (int) tlvType, tlvLen); ) and I only see types 1,2,3,6. Upon inspecting mmWave.h, tlvTypes 4 and 5 are the missing AZIMUTH_STATIC_HEAT_MAP and RANGE_DOPPLER_HEAT_MAP.

Any idea why I'm not seeing these 2 signals from the sensor? The ODS lab documentation says these signals should be included in the output.