rviz_robot_description_topic

This plugin allows you to display a robot model in rviz using a topic instead of a parameter.

Changing models

The robot_model plugin in rviz allows you to display a robot model using a parameter. This is useful if you have a static robot model that you want to display. However, if you want to display a robot model that is changing, you need to use a topic. This plugin allows you to display a robot model using a topic.

ROS 2 preparation

In ROS 2 the robot model is already published as a message. If you have a ROS1 code base but are preparing for a ROS2 migration, you can already convert the /robot_description parameter to a topic. This allows for less refactoring during the ROS 2 migration.

If you plan on using the ros1_bridge to connect ROS 1 and ROS 2, a robot description topic will pass this bridge just fine, whereas a parameter will not.

Convert from parameter to rostopic

If you are in the early stages of migration, you can already convert your robot description parameter to a topic using a small python node:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import rospy
from std_msgs.msg import String

rospy.init_node("robot_description_publisher")
pub = rospy.Publisher("robot_description", String, latch=True, queue_size=1)
pub.publish(rospy.get_param("robot_description"))
rospy.spin()