ROS_MSCL: A C++ repository from GSO Smart Ocean Systems Laboratory

Description

Interface (driver) software, including ROS node, for inertial sensors compatible with the Microstrain Communication Library (MSCL).

MSCL is developed by LORD Sensing - Microstrain in Williston, VT.

Build Instructions

MSCL

MSCL pre-built packages can be found here: MSCL Packages and Install instructions can be found here: How to Use MSCL
Our lab uses an old version of MSCL pre-built, the arm version can be found here.
- install:
  
  sudo dpkg -i c++-mscl_61.1.6_arm64.deb
  
  sudo apt install -f
- uninstall:
  
  sudo dpkg --remove c++-mscl_61.1.6_arm64.deb
If you choose to install MSCL at a location other than /usr/share, CMakeLists.txt will need to be updated with the install path.

Building from source

Install ROS and create a workspace: Installing and Configuring Your ROS Environment
Move the entire ROS-MSCL folder (ros_mscl and mscl_msgs for just source) to the your_workspace/src directory.
Locate and register the ros_mscl package: rospack find ros_mscl

Build your package:

 cd ~/your_workspace
 rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro ${ROS_DISTRO} -y
 catkin_make 
 source ~/your_workspace/devel/setup.bash

The source command may need to be run in each terminal prior to launching a ROS node.

Launch the node and publish data

The following command will launch the driver. Keep in mind each instance needs to be run in a separate terminal.

    roslaunch ros_mscl microstrain.launch

Optional launch parameters:

name: namespace the node will publish messages to, default: gx5
port: serial port name to connect to the device over, default: /dev/ttyACM0
baudrate: baud rate to open the connection with, default: 115200
imu_rate: sample rate for IMU data (hz), default: 100
debug: output debug info? default: false
diagnostics: output diagnostic info? default: true

To check published topics:

rostopic list

Example: Connect to and publish data from two devices simultaneously
In two different terminals:

roslaunch ros_mscl microstrain.launch name:=sensor1234

roslaunch ros_mscl microstrain.launch name:=bestSensor port:=/dev/ttyACM1

This will launch two nodes that publish data to different namespaces:

sensor1234, connected over port: /dev/ttyACM0
bestSensor, connected over port: /dev/ttyACM1

An example subscriber node can be found here: ROS-MSCL Examples

License