mrpt: a comprehensive C++ framework for mobile robotics featuring SLAM, navigation, and 3D visualization

What it solves

MRPT provides a comprehensive, modular C++ framework for mobile robotics, offering a standardized set of tools for tasks like mapping, localization, and navigation that would otherwise need to be built from scratch for every robot project.

How it works

It operates as a collection of modular packages (using a colcon-based build system) that implement core robotics algorithms. The toolkit includes specialized modules for SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), geometry handling via Lie groups, probabilistic filtering (Kalman and particle filters), and support for various sensor inputs like LiDAR and RGB-D cameras. It also provides a 3D visualization scene graph and Python bindings via pybind11 for easier accessibility.

Who it’s for

It is designed for academic researchers and industry professionals developing mobile robots, particularly those integrating with ROS 2.

Highlights

• Comprehensive SLAM Support: Includes MonteCarlo Localization, RBPF, and pose-graph optimization.
• Diverse Mapping: Supports occupancy grids, point maps, landmark maps, and voxel maps.
• Harnesses Modern C++: MRPT 3.0 is updated to C++17 standards with a cleaned-up public API.
• Broad Sensor Integration: Built-in support for IMU, GPS, Velodyne, and stereo cameras.
• Python Accessibility: Full pybind11 bindings for all major modules.