cartographer-project/cartographer

Keep odometry data only as needed for pose graph optimization.

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#1,768 opened on Oct 29, 2020

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enhancementhelp wanted

Description

Context: When a robot is not moving much, there are few trajectory nodes and odometry data can consume a lot of memory. Right now OptimizationProblem2D and OptimizationProblem3D store a lot of unneeded odometry data.

Idea: The optimization only needs odometry data directly before and after each trajectory node. This means, that all odometry data before the last node of a trajectory can be replaced by the interpolated odometry as used in the optimization problem.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
performance
Issue type
performance
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Knowledge of Cartographer's OptimizationProblem2D/3D classesFamiliarity with pose graph optimizationC++ proficiencyUnderstanding of odometry interpolation
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25
Research direction
Examine the `OptimizationProblem2D` and `OptimizationProblem3D` classes to understand how odometry data is stored and used during pose graph optimization. Identify the specific odometry data that can be replaced by interpolated values, focusing on data before the last node of each trajectory. Review existing interpolation functions and propose a plan to discard old odometry data after interpolation.