other maps not shown on RVIZ (with default launcher)

[trigal]

Hi, I'm opening the issue following this post on the utexas-art-ros-pkg-users group.

I would report that if you try to open the launch file inside the osm_cartography folder, there is a static transform:
<node pkg="tf" type="static_transform_publisher" name="local_map_tf" args="622150 3362350 0 0 0 0 1 map local_map 100" />

this is the transform to the UTM reference frame for the downloaded openstreetmap.
If you try do download your own map, you need to create a new transform with the coordinates of your area, in order to see the map on RVIZ.

I think this should be included in the readme of the project :-)

PS: here is a useful link for the lat/lon to UTM conversion http://www.rcn.montana.edu/resources/converter.aspx

[jack-oquin]

Thanks for the report. You are quite correct: that launch file only works for that single location.

This package is experimental and has not been very actively maintained. There is still no Indigo release yet. If you find it useful, I would be happy to provide some support, including fixing this bug. A pull request to fix it would help.

As a work-around, you can create your own launch file using that one as an example.

How would you recommend fixing this?

Should we remove the static transform from the launch file? The fixed transform definition could be moved in the tests/ subdirectory, where it would be clearer that it is not for general use.

The documentation also needs to explain why a local_map frame of reference is needed and how to define it.

Any other thoughts?

[ericperko]

For reference, here's the old answers.ros.org ticket about this with some explanation of why the local_map frame is needed: http://answers.ros.org/question/33624/how-to-view-map-regions-with-large-coordinate-values-using-rviz/#33640

[jack-oquin]

Closed as included in release 0.2.3 to Indigo.

Documentation added to the wiki. Please feel free to make or suggest improvements.