docker-mocap4ros2-optitrack

Docker wrapper for the mocap4ros2_optitrack driver. A ROS 2 lifecycle node that streams OptiTrack motion capture data via the NatNet SDK. Runs on ROS 2 Jazzy.

Prerequisites

• Docker
• docker compose
• vcstool: sudo apt install vcstool

Setup

Clone all source repos and build the Docker image:

./setup.sh

This will:

1. Clone all ROS 2 workspace source repos into files/src/
2. Build the Docker image

Configuration

Network (.env)

Edit .env to set the container name, hostname, and ROS version if needed.

OptiTrack connection (files/src/mocap4ros2_optitrack/mocap4r2_optitrack_driver/config/)

An example config files are provided:

• mocap4r2_optitrack_driver_params.yaml — default config

Key parameters to update before launching:

Parameter	Description
server_address	IP of the OptiTrack Motive PC
local_address	IP of the local machine running this container
connection_type	Unicast or Multicast
publish_tf	Enable TF publishing for rigid bodies
publish_y_up_tf	Publish static transform from ROS Z-up to OptiTrack Y-up frame
rigid_bodies	List of rigid body names (must match names set in Motive)

Usage

Start the container

# Allow GUI apps (RViz) to connect to the host display
xhost +local:docker

docker compose up -d
docker exec -it ros2-mocap-optitrack bash

Launch the OptiTrack driver

ros2 launch mocap4r2_optitrack_driver optitrack2.launch.py

Activate the lifecycle node

ros2 lifecycle set /mocap4r2_optitrack_driver_node activate

Verify data is streaming

# Rigid body poses
ros2 topic echo /rigid_bodies

# TF transforms (requires publish_tf: true in config)
ros2 topic echo /tf

# Static Y-up transform (requires publish_y_up_tf: true in config)
ros2 topic echo /tf_static

TF Publishing

When publish_tf: true, the driver publishes a TF transform for each rigid body listed under rigid_bodies in the config. The name field must exactly match the rigid body name as configured in Motive.

When publish_y_up_tf: true, a one-time static transform is published to bridge ROS's Z-up convention and OptiTrack's Y-up convention:

map (Z-up) → optitrack (Y-up) → <rigid_body_name>

Visualize TF (run Rviz)

ros2 run rviz2 rviz2