Sensor calibration files (formerly individual params)#

Introduction#

Earlier Autoware versions used an individual_params package to store the sensor calibration of each vehicle. The package overrode the default calibration of the sensor kit, and the vehicle_id launch argument selected the calibration of one vehicle.

Autoware 2.0 does not use the individual_params package. The autoware_individual_params repository is archived. The sensor calibration is now only in the config/ folder of the sensor kit description package (<YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_sensor_kit_description). Autoware had the same calibration in two places, and this made the launch files hard to manage. The following issue and pull request made this change:

• autowarefoundation/autoware#5975
• autowarefoundation/autoware_launch#1403

This page shows where the calibration files are now, and how to move your files from an individual_params package.

Where the calibration files are#

autoware.launch.xml gives the config_dir argument $(find-pkg-share <sensor_model>_description)/config to tier4_vehicle_launch. The xacro files of the sensor kit description load the calibration files from this folder. For the sample_sensor_kit, this folder is sample_sensor_kit_description/config in the autoware_launch repository.

The creating sensor model page explains these files. The calibrating sensors pages explain how to find the values.

Moving the files from an individual_params package#

If your Autoware workspace still has an individual_params package, do these steps:

1. Copy the files from individual_params/config/<VEHICLE_ID>/<YOUR-SENSOR-KIT>/ to the config/ folder of <YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_sensor_kit_description.

2. Find the launch files of your sensor kit that use individual_params, for example imu.launch.xml or gnss.launch.xml:

   grep -rn individual_params src/sensor_kit/<YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_sensor_kit_launch
   

3. Change each path to the file in the sensor kit description:

   - <arg name="imu_corrector_param_file" default="$(find-pkg-share individual_params)/config/$(var vehicle_id)/<YOUR-SENSOR-KIT>/imu_corrector.param.yaml"/>
   + <arg name="imu_corrector_param_file" default="$(find-pkg-share <YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_sensor_kit_description)/config/imu_corrector.param.yaml"/>
   

4. Remove the individual_params repository from your repositories/autoware.repos file, and remove the individual_params dependency from the package.xml files.

5. Build the sensor kit packages again:

   cd <YOUR-AUTOWARE-DIR>
   colcon build --symlink-install --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release --packages-up-to <YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_sensor_kit_description <YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_sensor_kit_launch
   

Several vehicles with the same sensors#

Each vehicle has its own calibration values, even if the vehicles use the same sensors. The sensor_model launch argument selects both the <sensor_model>_description and the <sensor_model>_launch packages. So, to keep the calibration of several vehicles in one workspace, make one sensor model for each vehicle. For example, vehicle_1_sensor_kit and vehicle_2_sensor_kit can have the same launch files but different calibration files. Then select the sensor model of the vehicle when you launch Autoware:

ros2 launch autoware_launch autoware.launch.xml map_path:=<YOUR-MAP-PATH> vehicle_model:=<YOUR-VEHICLE-NAME>_vehicle sensor_model:=vehicle_1_sensor_kit

The vehicle_id launch argument still exists, but it does not select a calibration. autoware.launch.xml gives it to the vehicle_interface.launch.xml of your vehicle model, and to the control component. The control component can read controller parameters for each vehicle from config/trajectory_follower/<VEHICLE_ID>/ of autoware_control_config if you set its use_individual_control_param argument to true.