PCT Planner

A ROS 2 implementation of Efficient Global Navigational Planning in 3-D Structures Based on Point Cloud Tomography (IEEE pedestrian on Mechatronics).

PCT Planner provides highly efficient global navigation for ground robots in multi-layer 3D structures such as parking garages, multi-story buildings, and complex outdoor environments with overhangs.

Paper & Demos: pct_planner

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 24.04 with ROS 2 Jazzy
• CUDA >= 11.7 for GPU-accelerated tomogram processing
• Python >= 3.10

Python Dependencies

pip3 install cupy-cuda11x open3d numpy

Build

1. Build the Planner C++ Module

cd pct_planner/planner/
./build_thirdparty.sh  # First time only
./build.sh

2. Build the ROS 2 Package

colcon build --symlink-install --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release --packages-select pct_planner
source install/setup.bash

Operating Modes

PCT Planner supports two operating modes:

SLAM Mode

Build tomograms on-demand from live point cloud data. Call the /build_tomogram service to capture the current map and generate a tomogram.

ros2 launch pct_planner pct_planner.launch.py local_mode:=false

# Trigger tomogram build from /explored_areas topic
ros2 service call /build_tomogram std_srvs/srv/Trigger

Relocalization Mode

Load a pre-built tomogram for navigation in known environments. Faster startup and more efficient for repeated navigation.

ros2 launch pct_planner pct_planner.launch.py local_mode:=true tomogram_path:=/path/to/map_tomogram.pickle

Tools

PCT Visualizer

Interactive visualization tool for offline tomogram analysis and path planning testing.

ros2 launch pct_planner pct_visualizer.launch.py pcd_file:=/path/to/map.pcd

Use the Publish Point tool in RViz to set start (1st click) and goal (2nd click) positions.

PCD to Tomogram Converter

Convert PCD files to tomogram pickle files for relocalization mode.

# From PCD file
ros2 run pct_planner pcd_to_tomogram.py map.pcd -o map_tomogram.pickle

# From ROS 2 topic (waits for single message)
ros2 run pct_planner pcd_to_tomogram.py -t /explored_areas -o map_tomogram.pickle

Package Structure

pct_planner/
├── planner/           # C++ path planning and trajectory optimization
│   ├── lib/           # A* search, GPMP optimizer, elevation planner
│   └── scripts/       # Python wrappers
├── tomography/        # GPU-accelerated point cloud tomography
│   └── scripts/       # Tomogram generation and visualization
├── scripts/           # ROS 2 nodes
│   ├── pct_planner_node.py       # Main planner node
│   ├── pct_planner_visualizer.py # Interactive visualizer
│   └── pcd_to_tomogram.py        # Conversion utility
├── utils/             # Goal validation and path utilities
└── config/            # Parameter files

Configuration

Parameters are configured via config/pct_planner_params.yaml or launch file arguments. Key parameters include tomogram resolution, slope limits, and waypoint lookahead distance.

License

Released under GPLv2 license.

Citing

@ARTICLE{yang2024efficient,
  author={Yang, Bowen and Cheng, Jie and Xue, Bohuan and Jiao, Jianhao and Liu, Ming},
  journal={IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
  title={Efficient Global Navigational Planning in 3-D Structures Based on Point Cloud Tomography},
  year={2024},
  pages={1-12}
}