ec_visualizer

Standalone CyberRT data visualizer and monitor for robotics applications. Supports real-time camera image and LiDAR point cloud visualization with cross-host RTPS communication and Foxglove Studio integration.

Features

• 🖼️ Real-time Image Display: Subscribe to and visualize camera streams
• 🌩️ Point Cloud Rendering: 3D OpenGL visualization of LiDAR data
• 📡 Cross-Host Communication: RTPS multicast support for distributed systems
• 🔌 Foxglove Bridge: WebSocket server for Foxglove Studio integration
• 📊 Channel Monitor: Auto-discovery of available CyberRT channels
• 🧪 Unit Tests: Comprehensive test suite with GoogleTest

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────┐
│ 192.168.1.108   │     │ 192.168.1.102   │     │ Monitoring Host     │
│ Camera Container│     │ LiDAR Container │     │                     │
│                 │     │                 │     │  ┌───────────────┐  │
│ /camera/left ───┼─────┤                 │     │  │ ec_visualizer │  │
│ /camera/right ──┼─────┤                 │     │  │               │  │
│        RTPS     │     │        RTPS     │     │  │ - NodeWrapper │  │
│   239.255.0.1   │     │   239.255.0.1   │     │  │ - ChannelMon  │  │
│    :9090 UDP    │     │    :9090 UDP    │     │  │ - WebSocket   │  │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘     │  │ - Renderer    │  │
                                                │  └───────┬───────┘  │
                                                └──────────┼──────────┘
                                                           │
                                          ┌────────────────┼────────────────┐
                                          │                │                │
                                   Local Qt Window   WebSocket:8765   Foxglove Studio
                                   (Direct Render)   (Foxglove Proto)  (Remote PC)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• CyberRT runtime libraries (libcyber.so, libprotobuf-lite.so)
• Qt5 (Core, Gui, Widgets, OpenGL)
• Eigen3
• CMake 3.14+
• Optional: GoogleTest for unit tests

Build

cd ec_visualizer
mkdir build && cd build

# Configure with CyberRT path
cmake .. \
  -DCYBER_ROOT=/usr/local/cyber \
  -DBUILD_TESTING=ON \
  -DBUILD_FOXGLOVE_BRIDGE=ON

make -j$(nproc)

Run

# Load environment
source ec_visualizer_env.sh

# Local mode (same host)
./ec_visualizer

# Cross-host mode with RTPS
./ec_visualizer --rtps-enabled --multicast-ip 239.255.0.1

# Foxglove bridge mode
./ec_visualizer --rtps-enabled --mode foxglove --ws-port 8765

Configuration

Cross-Host Setup

For your scenario with cameras on 192.168.1.108 and LiDAR on 192.168.1.102:

1. Deploy configuration to ALL hosts:

   sudo cp config/ec_cyber_conf.xml /etc/cyber/conf/

2. Verify RTPS settings are identical:

   • Multicast IP: 239.255.0.1
   • Port: 9090

3. Open firewall on all hosts:

   sudo ufw allow 9090/udp

4. Run visualizer on monitoring host:

   ./ec_visualizer --rtps-enabled --multicast-ip 239.255.0.1

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
CYBER_ROOT	CyberRT installation path	/usr/local/cyber
LD_LIBRARY_PATH	Automatically set by env script	-

Command Line Options

Option	Description
--rtps-enabled	Enable RTPS for cross-host communication
--multicast-ip <ip>	Set RTPS multicast IP (default: 239.255.0.1)
--port <port>	Set RTPS port (default: 9090)
--mode <mode>	Run mode: local or foxglove
--ws-port <port>	WebSocket port for Foxglove (default: 8765)
--help	Show help message

Testing

cd build
ctest --verbose
# or
./test_runner.sh

Project Structure

ec_visualizer/
├── CMakeLists.txt              # Build configuration
├── cmake/
│   └── ec_visualizer_env.sh.in # Environment script template
├── config/
│   └── ec_cyber_conf.xml       # RTPS configuration
├── include/
│   ├── ec_node_wrapper.h       # CyberRT node wrapper
│   ├── visualizer_window.h     # Qt main window
│   ├── image_display.h         # Image rendering widget
│   ├── pointcloud_display.h    # OpenGL point cloud widget
│   ├── channel_monitor.h       # Channel discovery
│   └── foxglove_bridge.h       # WebSocket bridge
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp                # Entry point
│   ├── ec_node_wrapper.cpp
│   ├── visualizer_window.cpp
│   ├── image_display.cpp
│   ├── pointcloud_display.cpp
│   ├── channel_monitor.cpp
│   └── foxglove_bridge.cpp
├── tests/
│   └── test_*.cpp              # Unit tests
└── docs/
    └── deployment_architecture.md

License

MIT License

Version History

• v2.2.0 - Renamed to ec_visualizer, removed Apollo branding
• v2.1.0 - Added Foxglove WebSocket bridge
• v2.0.1 - Added configurable CyberRT path support
• v2.0.0 - Initial release with tests and documentation