Move out ekf_localizer params from the xml launch file to a dedicated yaml config file

[VRichardJP]

Checklist

• I've read the contribution guidelines.
• I've searched other issues and no duplicate issues were found.
• I've agreed with the maintainers that I can plan this task.

Description

Currently, ekf_localizer params are all hardcoded in the ekf_localizer.launch.xml file. This is inconsistent with other packages, for which launch files and runtime parameters are split in different files.

For example for ndt_scan_matcher.param.yaml:

• launch file in src/autoware.universe/localization/ndt_scan_matcher/launch/ndt_scan_matcher.launch.xml
• pkg default config in src/autoware.universe/localization/ndt_scan_matcher/config/ndt_scan_matcher.param.yaml
• sample autoware_launch config in src/launcher/autoware_launch/autoware_launch/config/localization/ndt_scan_matcher.param.yaml
  https://github.com/autowarefoundation/autoware_launch/blob/main/autoware_launch/config/localization/ndt_scan_matcher.param.yaml

Purpose

Make ekf_localizer consistent with other packages.
Separating params from the launch file makes it easier to override the configuration.

Possible approaches

To keep the current behavior, we could have:

• src/universe/autoware.universe/localization/ekf_localizer/config/ekf_localizer.param.yaml:

/**:
  ros__parameters:
    show_debug_info: false
    enable_yaw_bias_estimation: True
    predict_frequency: 50.0
    tf_rate: 50.0
    extend_state_step: 50

    # for Pose measurement
    pose_additional_delay: 0.0
    pose_measure_uncertainty_time: 0.01
    pose_smoothing_steps: 5
    pose_gate_dist: 10000.0

    # for twist measurement
    twist_additional_delay: 0.0
    twist_smoothing_steps: 2
    twist_gate_dist: 10000.0

    # for process model
    proc_stddev_yaw_c: 0.005
    proc_stddev_vx_c: 10.0
    proc_stddev_wz_c: 5.0

• src/launcher/autoware_launch/autoware_launch/config/localization/ekf_localizer.param.yaml:

/**:
  ros__parameters:
    show_debug_info: false
    enable_yaw_bias_estimation: True
    predict_frequency: 50.0
    tf_rate: 50.0
    extend_state_step: 50

    # for Pose measurement
    pose_additional_delay: 0.0
    pose_measure_uncertainty_time: 0.01
    pose_smoothing_steps: 5
    pose_gate_dist: 10000.0

    # for twist measurement
    twist_additional_delay: 0.0
    twist_smoothing_steps: 2
    twist_gate_dist: 10000.0

    # for process model
    proc_stddev_yaw_c: 0.005
    proc_stddev_vx_c: 10.0
    proc_stddev_wz_c: 5.0

• src/universe/autoware.universe/localization/ekf_localizer/launch/ekf_localizer.launch.xml:

<launch>
  <arg name="param_file" default="$(find-pkg-share ekf_localizer)/config/ekf_localizer.param.yaml"/>

  <arg name="input_initial_pose_name" default="initialpose3d"/>
  <arg name="input_trigger_node_service_name" default="trigger_node" description="trigger node service"/>

  <!-- input topic name -->
  <arg name="input_pose_with_cov_name" default="in_pose_with_covariance"/>
  <arg name="input_twist_with_cov_name" default="in_twist_with_covariance"/>

  <!-- output topic name -->
  <arg name="output_odom_name" default="ekf_odom"/>
  <arg name="output_pose_name" default="ekf_pose"/>
  <arg name="output_pose_with_covariance_name" default="ekf_pose_with_covariance"/>
  <arg name="output_biased_pose_name" default="ekf_biased_pose"/>
  <arg name="output_biased_pose_with_covariance_name" default="ekf_biased_pose_with_covariance"/>
  <arg name="output_twist_name" default="ekf_twist"/>
  <arg name="output_twist_with_covariance_name" default="ekf_twist_with_covariance"/>

  <node pkg="ekf_localizer" exec="ekf_localizer" name="ekf_localizer" output="screen">
    <remap from="in_pose_with_covariance" to="$(var input_pose_with_cov_name)"/>

    <remap from="in_twist_with_covariance" to="$(var input_twist_with_cov_name)"/>

    <remap from="initialpose" to="$(var input_initial_pose_name)"/>
    <remap from="trigger_node_srv" to="$(var input_trigger_node_service_name)"/>

    <param name="pose_frame_id" value="map"/>

    <remap from="ekf_odom" to="$(var output_odom_name)"/>
    <remap from="ekf_pose" to="$(var output_pose_name)"/>
    <remap from="ekf_pose_with_covariance" to="$(var output_pose_with_covariance_name)"/>
    <remap from="ekf_biased_pose" to="$(var output_biased_pose_name)"/>
    <remap from="ekf_biased_pose_with_covariance" to="$(var output_biased_pose_with_covariance_name)"/>
    <remap from="ekf_twist" to="$(var output_twist_name)"/>
    <remap from="ekf_twist_with_covariance" to="$(var output_twist_with_covariance_name)"/>

    <param from="$(var param_file)"/>
  </node>
</launch>

• In src/launcher/autoware_launch/autoware_launch/launch/components/tier4_localization_component.launch.xml, add:

    <arg name="ekf_localizer_param_path" value="$(find-pkg-share autoware_launch)/config/localization/ekf_localizer.param.yaml"/>

• In src/universe/autoware.universe/launch/tier4_localization_launch/launch/localization.launch.xml, add:

    <arg name="ekf_localizer_param_path"/>

• In src/universe/autoware.universe/launch/tier4_localization_launch/launch/pose_twist_fusion_filter/pose_twist_fusion_filter.launch.xml, add:

  <include file="$(find-pkg-share ekf_localizer)/launch/ekf_localizer.launch.xml">
    <!-- ... -->
    <arg name="param_file" value="$(var ekf_localizer_param_path)"/>
  </include>

Definition of done

ekf_localizer runtime parameters are loaded from dedicated config files instead of being hardcoded in its launch file.

[VRichardJP]

• autoware_launch: chore(ekf_localizer): move parameters to its dedicated yaml file autoware_launch#244
• autoware.universe: chore(ekf_localizer): move parameters to its dedicated yaml file #3039