Is rtabmap able for RGB-D & 3D Lidar mapping ?

[Mikor]

Hi Mathieu,

Can you clarify if rgbd + 3d lidar is able to be combined for mapping? If yes then how, if their data can not be combined for mapping, can they be used together for something else like odometry calculation?

Thank you in advance,
Anthony.

[matlabbe]

We can use RGB-D camera + 3D lidar for SLAM. However, only camera or lidar will be used to create the 3D point cloud. To combine point cloud from camera and lidar, you would have to merge them prior to rtabmap, then feed that point cloud to rtabmap instead of the 3d lidar.

For odometry, we woudl use either rgbd_odometry or icp_odometry using one or the sensor. There is also a node called rgbdicp_odometry, which would use Reg/Strategy=2 to compute odometry, thus computing a first guess using vision, then refine that pose with lidar.

cheers,
Mathieu