Moveit: Rviz FPS drops to zero with controller plugged in and with "allow external comm." enabled.

[RealWilliamWells]

Description

Rviz FPS drops to zero with controller plugged in and with "allow external comm." enabled, when using joystick controls. The FPS returns to normal upon unplugging the controller or disabling "allow external comm.". This same issue occurs with the UR3 Arm from https://github.com/PUT-UGV-Team/ur3_erc_docker.

Your environment

• ROS Distro: Melodic
• OS Version: Ubuntu 18.04
• Binary obtained with apt-get install
• Package: ros-melodic-moveit
• Version: 1.0.6-1bionic.20200822.021945

Steps to reproduce

1. Install MoveIt on ROS Melodic on Ubuntu 18.04.
2. Create catkin workspace and run git clone https://github.com/ros-planning/panda_moveit_config.git to clone Panda Arm.
3. Build everything in catkin workspace with catkin_make. Source "devel/setup.bash". Setup Panda arm for operation in step one on the Panda Arm tutorial: https://ros-planning.github.io/moveit_tutorials/doc/quickstart_in_rviz/quickstart_in_rviz_tutorial.html.
4. Plug in controller run roslaunch panda_moveit_config joystick_control.launch and enable "allow external comm."
5. Notice how the FPS in Rviz drops to very low single digits or zero.

Expected behaviour

FPS should remain stable and allow the controlling of the arm.

Actual behaviour

FPS drops to single digits or zero, making the arm nearly uncontrollable.

Backtrace or Console output

You can start planning now!

part of demo.launch output

[ERROR] [1599091377.251573909]: PluginlibFactory: The plugin for class 'rviz_visual_tools/KeyTool' failed to load.  Error: According to the loaded plugin descriptions the class rviz_visual_tools/KeyTool with base class type rviz::Tool does not exist. Declared types are  rviz/FocusCamera rviz/Interact rviz/Measure rviz/MoveCamera rviz/PublishPoint rviz/Select rviz/SetGoal rviz/SetInitialPose rviz_plugin_tutorials/PlantFlag
[rospack] Error: no package given
[librospack]: error while executing command
[rospack] Error: no package given
[librospack]: error while executing command
[ERROR] [1599091377.269937288]: PluginlibFactory: The plugin for class 'rviz_visual_tools/RvizVisualToolsGui' failed to load.  Error: According to the loaded plugin descriptions the class rviz_visual_tools/RvizVisualToolsGui with base class type rviz::Panel does not exist. Declared types are  rviz_plugin_tutorials/Teleop

part of joystick_control.launch output

process[joy-1]: started with pid [25677]
process[moveit_joy-2]: started with pid [25678]
[ WARN] [1599091619.137128709]: Couldn't set gain on joystick force feedback: Bad file descriptor
[ INFO] [1599091619.837621421]: Loading robot model 'panda'...
panda_arm_hand ['/rviz/moveit/move_marker/goal_panda_link8']
panda_arm ['/rviz/moveit/move_marker/goal_panda_link8']

[welcome[bot]]

Thanks for reporting an issue. Because we're a volunteer community, providing a pull request with suggested changes is always welcomed.

[MartensCedric]

I have the same issue with the UR3 robotic arm

[gavanderhoorn]

@RealWilliamWells / @MartensCedric: just an observation: you appear to be using ur_modern_driver in your Dockerfile. Are you aware of the fact that it is completely deprecated and you should use Universal_Robots_ROS_Driver instead?

Unless you have a CB2 controller, that is.

[RealWilliamWells]

@RealWilliamWells / @MartensCedric: just an observation: you appear to be using ur_modern_driver in your Dockerfile. Are you aware of the fact that it is completely deprecated and you should use Universal_Robots_ROS_Driver instead?

Unless you have a CB2 controller, that is.

Oh I wasn't aware actually thanks! I just tested with Universal_Robots_ROS_Driver instead, and it produced the same results.

[gavanderhoorn]

Oh I wasn't aware actually thanks

The notice is rather hard to miss:

Deprecation notice

note: the master branch contains a deprecated version of this driver, kept for archival purposes only.

ur_modern_driver has been deprecated completely in favour of ur_robot_driver.

Users with CB3 and e-Series controllers should use ur_robot_driver.

Refer to the announcement on ROS Discourse for more information.

Besides that the package manifest also marks it as deprecated, so you should see warnings when building your workspace.

I just tested with Universal_Robots_ROS_Driver instead, and it produced the same results.

I did not expect anything to change.

[simonschmeisser]

Do you have rviz_visual_tools installed? That should solve the first error

For the second, something seems to be wrong with your joystick?

[RealWilliamWells]

Hey thanks for the reply! I was able to solve the first error by installing rviz_visual_tools, but I wasn't able to solve the second one even when using a different controller. The FPS issue with Rviz still persists even after solving the first error.

[rhaschke]

I cannot reproduce the second issue, because I don't have access to a joystick... Without a joystick attached, there is not drop in performance when _allowing external comm_.
You should check the incoming topic (something like /rviz/moveit/move_marker/*). Maybe rviz is flooded with messages at a high rate? According to the subscription in RobotInteraction::toggleMoveInteractiveMarkerTopic() the queue is restricted to a single element.
You should try to figure out (via a profiler) where the time is spent.

[MartensCedric]

I cannot reproduce the second issue, because I don't have access to a joystick... Without a joystick attached, there is not drop in performance when _allowing external comm_.

Yes this is the same behaviour. But the moment a joystick is plugged the FPS goes to 0-1 FPS, but once unplugged it goes back to 30+. Really weird

[felixvd]

If you could try rostopic echoing these topics and the topics under /rviz/moveit/move_marker/ when you plug in your joystick, that would help debug this issue.

[Sunshengjin]

Hi, I have same problem ..WHen i running xxx_moveit_config/launch/joystick_control.launch , rviz FPS drop to 0..
Is anyone have any solutions?