crest_zed_mapping

Dockerised ZED2i camera streaming and SLAM for NVIDIA Jetson Orin (JetPack 6, L4T r36.4.0).

Provides three launch modes for the ZED2i via Docker on --network=host ROS2 DDS:

Mode	Description	Use Case
localise	Same as perception, just simpler	Good place to start when building for the first time
perception	RGB-only, no depth	Lightweight — when using external odometry (e.g. LiDAR SLAM)
perception_plus	RGBD with depth + point cloud	Full stereo perception without SLAM
slam	RGBD + RTAB-Map	Full visual SLAM (Stage 2)

Steps to Build Docker

Build the Docker image (on Jetson)

cd tron_ibis_stack/src/shared/libraries/ros/crest_zed_mapping
./scripts/build.sh

Launch

# RGBD mode (default)
LAUNCH_MODE=perception_plus ./scripts/launch.sh

# RGB-only mode
LAUNCH_MODE=perception ./scripts/launch.sh

# SLAM mode (Stage 2)
LAUNCH_MODE=slam ./scripts/launch.sh

.sh file used to run the docker (contains necessary details):

#!/bin/bash

docker run -it --rm \
  --runtime=nvidia \
  --net=host \
  --ipc=host \
  --pid=host \
  --privileged \
  --group-add video \
  --security-opt seccomp=unconfined \
  --device=/dev/video0 \
  --device=/dev/video1 \
  -e ROS_DOMAIN_ID=30 \
  -e ROS_LOCALHOST_ONLY=0 \
  -e RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedds_cpp \
  -e CYCLONEDDS_URI=file:///root/.ros/cyclonedds.xml \
  -v ~/.ros:/root/.ros \
  -v /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb \
  crest_zed_mapping:latest

Verify

From desktop on the same network:

# List topics
ros2 topic list

#Following topics must publish for SLAM to run:
# Check image rate
ros2 topic hz /zed/zed_node/rgb/color/rect/image

# Check depth (perception_plus only)
ros2 topic hz /zed/zed_node/depth/depth_registered

# Check camera info
ros2 topic hz /zed/zed_node/zed_camera_info

Persistent Data

ZED SDK resources, settings, and maps are persisted at ~/.crest_zed_mapping/:

~/.crest_zed_mapping/
├── resources/   → /usr/local/zed/resources/
├── settings/    → /usr/local/zed/settings/
└── maps/        → /maps  (for RTAB-Map database in Stage 2)

Viewing Maps created

• Use rviz2 on host to see maps being generated.
• Make sure to use the /map topic on the correct zed and point cloud topics.