ABSTRACT
The primary tool for visualization in robot operating system (ROS) is rviz. This chapter shows how a few common sensors that can be incorporated in Gazebo and interpreted in rviz. A feature to provide graphical overlays in rviz is the publishing of markers. A more sophisticated type is the Interactive Marker, which allows the operator to move a marker in rviz with a mouse and publish the resulting coordinates in ROS. It should be noted that the rviz display of emulated sensors is performed the same way as rviz display of real sensors. Various sensors, including stereo vision systems, the Kinect camera, and some LIDARs, are able to sense 3-D coordinates of points in the environment. The LIDAR display from the physical robot is a good approximation to simulated LIDAR from a Gazebo model of the robot. This supports developing perceptual processing software in simulation, which is then applicable to the physical system.
