Vehicle-cpp/Nav/autoware_src/autoware/simulation/carla_simulator_bridge

Autoware in Carla

Integration of the CARLA simulator

Requirements

• ROS Melodic
• CARLA 0.9.8
• CARLA ROS Bridge

System requirements for running CARLA.

Opens

• no compliance with traffic rules (due to missing vector map)

Setup

CARLA

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 304F9BC29914A77D &&
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64 trusted=yes] http://dist.carla.org/carla-0.9.8/ all main"

sudo apt install carla-simulator

Point cloud maps of CARLA towns

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys BA0F9B7406F60E23
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64 trusted=yes] http://dist.carla.org/carla-hdmaps/ bionic main"

sudo apt install carla-hdmaps

CARLA ROS Bridge

The CARLA ROS bridge package aims at providing a simple ROS bridge for CARLA simulator.

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 81061A1A042F527D &&
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64 trusted=yes] http://dist.carla.org/carla-ros-bridge-melodic/ bionic main"

sudo apt install carla-ros-bridge-melodic

Run

To run Autoware within CARLA please use the following execution order:

1. CARLA Server
2. Autoware (including carla-ros-bridge and additional nodes)

You need two terminals:

#Terminal 1

cd /opt/carla/bin
./CarlaUE4.sh

For details, please refer to the CARLA documentation.

#Terminal 2

export CARLA_MAPS_PATH=/opt/carla/HDMaps/

source /opt/carla-ros-bridge/$ROS_DISTRO/setup.bash
source ~/autoware.ai/install/setup.bash
roslaunch carla_autoware_bridge carla_autoware_bridge_with_manual_control.launch

Multi machine setup

You can run Autoware and CARLA on different machines. To let the CARLA Autoware bridge connect to a remote CARLA Server, execute roslaunch with the following parameters

roslaunch host:=<hostname> port:=<port number> carla_autoware_bridge carla_autoware_bridge_with_manual_control.launch

Customization

Ego Vehicle

The setup of the sensors is defined within sensors.json.

carla_ego_vehicle reads the file and spawn the ego vehicle and the sensors. The spawn point can be specified by a launch file argument, otherwise a random one is used.

Manual Control

The ROS node carla_manual_control is used to visualize the simulation (from an ego perspective). It is completely optional.

By pressing B it is possible to override the steering that is received by Autoware.

Route Creation

Routes are provided by carla_waypoint_publisher. It is possible to specify a goal with RVIZ or by publishing to a topic.

Development support

Use CARLA Ground Truth Objects

You can skip the Autoware perception by using the ground truth objects from CARLA. Therefore disable all relevant Autware perception nodes and execute:

rosrun carla_autoware_bridge carla_to_autoware_detected_objects

The objects get then published to /tracked_objects.

Additional Functionality

There are additional nodes available in the CARLA ROS bridge repo. Please have a look here.

Design

Beside several ROS-only nodes, the bridge contains three CARLA Clients.

1. ROS Bridge - Monitors existing actors in CARLA, publishes changes on ROS Topics (e.g. new sensor data)
2. Ego Vehicle - Instantiation of the ego vehicle with its sensor setup.
3. Waypoint Calculation - Uses the CARLA Python API to calculate a route.

Scenario Execution

It is possible to use CARLA scenario runner in conjunction with Autoware: Documentation.

Further Documentation and Support

CARLA Documentation

CARLA ROS Bridge Documentation

CARLA Scenario Runner

CARLA Discord