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load_composite_map

Service type: map_manager/srv/LoadCompositeMap

Service name: /load_composite_map

Description​

Loads the map archive directory in map_path and persists the loaded result. It does not set the initial pose; publish /initialpose after success.

Request (Request)​

FieldTypeDescription
map_pathstringArchive directory to load.

Response (Response)​

FieldTypeDescription
successboolWhether the operation succeeded.
messagestringResult or error message.
map_infomap_manager/msg/CompositeMapInfoLoaded map information; on success, map_id is the archive directory name.

Example​

Complete Environment Preparation first: the CLI examples require ROBOT_NAMESPACE to be set; the Python and C++ examples use relative service names, so append --ros-args -r __ns:=$ROBOT_NAMESPACE when running them.

CLI call​

Bash
ros2 service call $ROBOT_NAMESPACE/load_composite_map map_manager/srv/LoadCompositeMap \
  "{map_path: '/data/maps/office'}"

After success, publish the initial pose:

Bash
# The subscriber is BEST_EFFORT + TRANSIENT_LOCAL; the publisher must match that QoS,
# and publishing continuously for a few seconds ensures endpoint matching.
timeout 6 ros2 topic pub --qos-reliability best_effort --qos-durability transient_local -r 1 \
  $ROBOT_NAMESPACE/initialpose geometry_msgs/msg/PoseWithCovarianceStamped \
  "{header: {frame_id: 'map'}, pose: {pose: {position: {x: 1.0, y: 2.0, z: 0.0}, orientation: {z: 0.0, w: 1.0}}}}"

Python example​

Python
import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node
from map_manager.srv import LoadCompositeMap


class MapLoader(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('map_loader')
        self.client = self.create_client(
            LoadCompositeMap, 'load_composite_map')

    def load(self, map_path: str):
        self.client.wait_for_service()
        request = LoadCompositeMap.Request()
        request.map_path = map_path
        future = self.client.call_async(request)
        rclpy.spin_until_future_complete(self, future)
        return future.result()


rclpy.init()
node = MapLoader()
result = node.load('/data/maps/office')
print(result.message)
node.destroy_node()
rclpy.shutdown()

C++ example​

C++
#include <memory>
#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>
#include <map_manager/srv/load_composite_map.hpp>

auto node = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("map_loader");
auto client = node->create_client<map_manager::srv::LoadCompositeMap>(
    "load_composite_map");
client->wait_for_service();

auto request = std::make_shared<map_manager::srv::LoadCompositeMap::Request>();
request->map_path = "/data/maps/office";
auto future = client->async_send_request(request);
if (rclcpp::spin_until_future_complete(node, future) ==
    rclcpp::FutureReturnCode::SUCCESS) {
    const auto response = future.get();
    RCLCPP_INFO(node->get_logger(), "%s", response->message.c_str());
}

Supported map format​

Directory format​

GRW loads only an archive directory created by save_composite_map. map_path must be that directory, not a file inside it.

The save service writes the map metadata, the navigation map data, and the map.pgm and map.yaml files used for the 2D occupancy grid into the archive directory. Keep the complete directory and its contents when loading: do not copy out individual files, and do not edit the archive by hand.

Unsupported formats​

Direct loading of .mmap archives, point-cloud maps, and maps generated by other robot models is not supported. To move a map between GRW devices, copy the complete GRW archive directory.