What is the best connection setup to use Nav2 and SLAM toolbox with create 3

[omerdurmus61]

How are you connecting to your Create 3?

Wi-Fi and USB Ethernet (ROS 2)

Computer(s) Model(s) and Operating System(s)

Intel Nuc and Desktop

Which version of ROS 2 is installed on your computer?

Humble

Which firmware version is installed on your robot?

H.2.4

Which RMW is your robot running?

FastRTPS

Does your robot have an assigned namespace? If so, please share.

No

Is the robot connected to a network? If so, what is the network type?

office

Are there multiple Create 3 robots connected to your network?

No

Is multicast enabled?

None

What is the Adapter Board's USB/BLE Toggle currently switched to?

USB

Describe your question.

I have an Intel NUC mini PC connected to my Create 3 via an Ethernet cable. I adjusted the wired connection settings on the mini PC and used an Ethernet to USB-C adapter for the connection. I can access Create 3 topics over both Wi-Fi and the Ethernet cable on the mini PC. Additionally, I have a desktop PC that can access Create 3 topics over Wi-Fi.

However, when working with the Nav2 stack on both the mini PC and desktop, I encounter some errors likely due to delays and my Nav2 stack doesn't work properly. The errors are as follows:

Do you have any advice on resolving these errors?

[INFO] [1707460066.543602087] [amcl]: Message Filter dropping message: frame 'laser_frame' at time 1707460065.407 for reason 'the timestamp on the message is earlier than all the data in the transform cache

Message Filter dropping message: frame 'base_footprint' at time 1707466052.645 for reason 'discarding message because the queue is full'

[brianabouchard]

Hello! I've experienced similar errors in the past. One of the biggest improvements I saw was when I setup an NTP server. I was doing it on a Raspberry Pi, but the setup you have with your NUC mini PC sounds the same so it should be possible to use the same instructions to do so: https://iroboteducation.github.io/create3_docs/setup/compute-ntp/

The other option that can greatly improve performance, especially on an office/corporate network, would be implementing the Fast-DDS discovery server. iRobot has instructions on how to do that here: https://iroboteducation.github.io/create3_docs/setup/discovery-server/