RealSense Cameras with ROS 2

This section shows how to install and run a ROS 2 sample application that uses RealSense cameras and ROS Visualization 2 (RViz2).

You will learn how to:

• Launch ROS nodes for a camera.

• List ROS topics.

• Confirm that RealSense camera topics are publishing data.

• Retrieve data from the RealSense camera.

• Visualize an image from the RealSense camera in RViz2.

You can run this sample application using two different types of RealSense cameras, explained further in this section:

• A RealSense camera connected through USB, for example, the RealSense D435i.

• A RealSense Depth Camera D457.

Note

Currently USB cameras are the only supported cameras.

Prerequisites

Complete the Getting Started guide before continuing.

Install the RealSense ROS 2 Sample Application

1. Download and install the RealSense camera with ROS 2 sample application:

   Jazzy

   sudo apt-get install -y ros-jazzy-realsense2-tutorial-demo
   

   Humble

   sudo apt-get install -y ros-humble-realsense2-tutorial-demo
   

2. Run find_cameras.sh to detect the connected camera type:

   /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO/share/realsense2_tutorial/scripts/find_cameras.sh
   

Using RealSense camera connected through USB

1. Connect a RealSense camera (for example, RealSense D435i) to the host, through USB.

2. Run the RealSense camera with ROS 2 sample application, passing the camera_type value reported by find_cameras.sh (it defaults to usb):

   ros2 launch realsense2_tutorial realsense2_tutorial.launch.py camera_type:=usb
   

   Expected output: The image from the RealSense camera is displayed in rviz2, on the bottom left side.

   

3. To close this, do the following:

   • Type Ctrl-c in the terminal where the tutorial was run.

Using RealSense Depth Camera D457 over GMSL

Connect the RealSense Depth Camera D457 to a GMSL-enabled platform, then power on the target.

Note

Select the “MIPI” mode of the RealSense Depth Camera D457 by moving the select switch on the camera to “M”, as shown in the picture below:

Follow the GMSL Cameras guide to configure the BIOS, install the GMSL driver, and bind the RealSense D457 camera (the RealSense tab of the “Bind GMSL camera” step) before continuing.

Run the RealSense camera with ROS 2 sample application

1. Run the RealSense camera with ROS 2 sample application, passing the camera_type value reported by find_cameras.sh:

   ros2 launch realsense2_tutorial realsense2_tutorial.launch.py camera_type:=gmsl
   

   Expected output: The image from the RealSense camera is displayed in rviz2, on the bottom left side.

   

2. To close this, do the following:

   • Type Ctrl-c in the terminal where the tutorial was run.