IMU Serial to ROS Publisher

This package publishes IMU sensor data from a serial device as sensor_msgs/Imu. It supports common IMUs such as LSM6DSOX, BMI088, and BNO085 via the imu_i2c_to_serial_publisher firmware.

Quick build requirements

• Target OS: Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat)
• Target ROS 2: Jazzy Jellyfish (desktop)
• Python: system Python 3.12

Installation (development setup)

Source the ROS 2 setup in every new shell (or add to your shell rc):

source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash

1. Initialize rosdep (first time only):

sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

1. Create a workspace and clone the repo:

mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src
cd ~/ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/Aeolus96/imu_serial_to_ros_publisher.git

1. Install dependencies with rosdep:

cd ~/ros2_ws
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

1. Install Python dependencies (if needed):

python3 -m pip install --user -r src/imu_serial_to_ros_publisher/requirements.txt

1. Build and source the workspace:

colcon build --symlink-install
source ~/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash

Serial device and stable linking

For reliable device naming across reboots, create a stable symlink such as /dev/my_imu.

To create a manual udev rule under /etc/udev/rules.d/99-imu.rules (use attributes from udevadm info --attribute-walk --name /dev/ttyACM0). Then reload udev rules and trigger (may require replugging device to take effect):

sudo udevadm control --reload
sudo udevadm trigger

Verify the symlink:

ls -l /dev/edubot_imu

Add your user to the dialout group so you can access serial devices:

sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER
# then log out and log in again

Usage

Start the IMU publisher with the provided launch file:

ros2 launch imu_serial_to_ros_publisher imu_publisher.launch.py

Run with custom parameters:

ros2 launch imu_serial_to_ros_publisher imu_publisher.launch.py \
  serial_port:=/dev/edubot_imu \
  baud_rate:=115200 \
  topic:=imu/data_raw \
  frame_id:=imu_link

Common node parameters

• serial_port (string) — default /dev/ttyACM0
• baud_rate (int) — default 115200
• topic (string) — default imu/data_raw
• frame_id (string) — default imu_link
• reconnect_interval_seconds (float) — default 1.0
• no_telemetry_warn_seconds (float) — default 3.0
• assert_dtr (bool) — default false

Tools

After launching the IMU publisher, run orientation check (interactive sign check):

ros2 run imu_serial_to_ros_publisher imu_orientation_check --ros-args -p topic:=/imu/data_raw

Data quality verifier:

ros2 run imu_serial_to_ros_publisher imu_verifier

Published topics

• imu/data_raw (sensor_msgs/Imu): accelerations, angular velocities, optional orientation, covariance fields.

License and contributing

Created by Devson Butani, 2025

MIT License. See LICENSE file for details.

Contributing bug fixes and new features? Submit a pull request!