Free Orbit Ortho View Plugin

ROS 2 Humble RViz2 plugin that adds a free-orbit orthographic view controller.

This package keeps the normal RViz Orbit mouse controls, but renders the camera with an orthographic projection. The default Ortho Scale is 8.5.

Naming

The package name is free_orbit_ortho_view_plugin.

The RViz plugin class is registered as:

free_orbit_ortho_view_plugin/FreeOrbitOrtho

This package is intended for ROS 2 Humble.

Clone Into A Workspace

Create a ROS 2 workspace and clone this package into its src directory.

If you already have a ROS 2 workspace, use that workspace's src directory instead of /path/to/ortho_ws/src.

mkdir -p /path/to/ortho_ws/src
cd /path/to/ortho_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/aries-robot/free-orbit-ortho-view-plugin.git

The package source should be located here after cloning:

/path/to/ortho_ws/src/free-orbit-ortho-view-plugin

Build

Install or source ROS 2 Humble first.

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
cd /path/to/ortho_ws
colcon build --symlink-install --packages-select free_orbit_ortho_view_plugin

Source the built workspace.

source /path/to/ortho_ws/install/setup.bash

Run In RViz

Start RViz from a terminal where the plugin workspace has been sourced.

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
source /path/to/ortho_ws/install/setup.bash
rviz2

In RViz:

1. Open the Views panel. If it is hidden, enable it from Panels > Views.
2. In Current View, open the Type dropdown.
3. Select free_orbit_ortho_view_plugin/FreeOrbitOrtho.
4. Adjust Ortho Scale in the Views panel if a different orthographic zoom level is needed.

Controls

• Left drag: orbit around the focal point.
• Middle drag: move the focal point.
• Mouse wheel: change Ortho Scale.
• Right vertical drag: change Ortho Scale.

Install As A Debian Package

Install the packaging tools.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-bloom python3-rosdep fakeroot debhelper dh-python dpkg-dev

Install package dependencies.

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
cd /path/to/ortho_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y --rosdistro humble

Build a local Debian package.

cd /path/to/ortho_ws/src/free-orbit-ortho-view-plugin
bloom-generate rosdebian --ros-distro humble
fakeroot debian/rules binary

The generated .deb file is created in the parent directory of the package source, which is src/ in this workspace.

Install the generated package.

cd /path/to/ortho_ws/src
sudo apt install ./ros-humble-free-orbit-ortho-view-plugin_*.deb

After installing the Debian package, only the ROS 2 Humble environment needs to be sourced before starting RViz.

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
rviz2