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Version: ROS 2 Jazzy

Pan-Tilt Units

Pan-tilt units (PTUs) are positioning devices that orient a payload in pan and tilt. They publish messages of type sensor_msgs/JointState describing the current pan and tilt joint positions, and accept std_msgs/Float64 commands on cmd topics to drive the pan and tilt axes.

Supported PTUs​

FLIR PTU​

ptu:
  - model: flir_ptu
    urdf_enabled: true
    launch_enabled: true
    parent: base_link
    xyz: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
    rpy: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
    ptu_model: ptu5
    ros_parameters:
      ptu_driver:
        connection_type: tcp
        ip_addr: 192.168.131.70
        tcp_port: 4000
        limits_enabled: false

Package and Setup​

The FLIR Pan-Tilt Unit uses the flir_ptu_driver ROS 2 package. The driver is open source, hosted on GitHub, and installed alongside the clearpath_robot package as a dependency.

For more specifics on the way Clearpath's configuration system launches the flir_ptu_driver node, see the FLIR PTU launch file and the default parameter file in clearpath_sensors.

Hardware Model​

The FLIR PTU-5 is supported. Set ptu_model: ptu5 on the sensor entry.

Connection​

The FLIR PTU can be connected over TCP/IP (Ethernet) or over a serial TTY. The ptu_driver.connection_type parameter selects the transport:

  • tcp: Use the ip_addr and tcp_port parameters to specify the device address. The default IP address is 192.168.131.70, port 4000.
  • tty: Use the port parameter to specify the serial device path (default: /dev/ptu).
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