Missing odom frame and mapping not working

[kuceram2]

Robot Model

Turtlebot4 Standard

ROS distro

Humble

Networking Configuration

Simple Discovery

OS

Ubuntu 22.04

Built from source or installed?

Installed

Package version

Package: ros-humble-turtlebot4-navigation

Version: 1.0.5-1jammy.20250618.014022

Type of issue

Navigation (SLAM, Nav2 etc.)

Expected behaviour

The robot should create a map of its surroundings using lidar, as described in the tutorial I was following.

Actual behaviour

The map is not bing created and the link "map" that should be set as "fixed_frame" in RViz does not exist. also, the "odom" frame does not exist, as is shown in the tf_tree visualisation attached.

frames_2025-06-18_14.27.07.pdf

Here is a detailed description of the problem I created before. problem description

Error messages

Output of the terminal running SLAM:

[async_slam_toolbox_node-1] [INFO] [1751274401.016653598] [slam_toolbox]: Message Filter dropping message: frame 'rplidar_link' at time 1723478377.021 for reason 'discarding message because the queue is full'
[async_slam_toolbox_node-1] [INFO] [1751274401.216845288] [slam_toolbox]: Message Filter dropping message: frame 'rplidar_link' at time 1723478377.157 for reason 'the timestamp on the message is earlier than all the data in the transform cache'

These messages keep repeating while the process is running.

Output of a terminal running RViz:

[rviz2-1] [INFO] [1751274400.625248251] [rviz2]: Message Filter dropping message: frame 'rplidar_link' at time 1723478375.388 for reason 'discarding message because the queue is full'
[rviz2-1] [INFO] [1751274400.849641029] [rviz2]: Message Filter dropping message: frame 'rplidar_link' at time 1723478375.524 for reason 'discarding message because the queue is full'

this also keeps repeating

To Reproduce

follow the Generating a map tutorial

1. Install turtlebot4_navigation package
2. launch ASYNCHRONOUS slam
3. launch RViz
4. see the issue ("Frame [map] does not exst")

Other notes

I reflashed the RasPi OS with the newest version but the issue persists, there are three more turtlebots having the same issue.

[AwsSleepy]

@kuceram2

I’m experiencing the same issue.
After I connect to the Create 3 base’s network, I can see the /odom topic.
However, SLAM still doesn’t publish the related TF transforms (like map -> odom).

Have you managed to solve this problem?

[kuceram2]

Hi, I am currently in the process of solving the issue with the help of @smatarCPR. Once I get the solution I will make sure to post it here. Since your issue is slightly different you might as well create new ticket...

[AwsSleepy]

@kuceram2

Hi, I have resolved my issue. Here's the process I followed:

1. I configured the Discovery Server following the official instructions:
   https://turtlebot.github.io/turtlebot4-user-manual/setup/discovery_server.html

2. I used turtlebot4-setup to set a namespace.
   Without setting a namespace, the Raspberry Pi couldn't receive topics related to Create 3 (this seems to be a bug).

3. I made sure the clocks between the Create3, Raspberry Pi, and PC were synchronized:
   https://iroboteducation.github.io/create3_docs/setup/compute-ntp/#step-by-step

After completing steps 1 and 2, I was able to successfully view Create 3 related topics (such as /odom and the base_link <-> odom transform in /tf) on both the Raspberry Pi and the PC. However, running SLAM still didn't publish any map-related transforms to /tf.

After the last step, my SLAM node started working as expected.

Hope this helps!

[smatarCPR]

Hello @kuceram2 ,
I will go ahead and close this issue. Should you encounter any follow up issues, do not hesitate to reach out by simply replying to this thread or opening up a new issue.
Best Regards,
Saif