Isaac ROS Visual SLAM topics are empty with Isaac Sim RealSense camera

Omniverse Isaac Sim
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1

Hello, I have a mobile robot in Isaac Sim with a RealSense camera, and I am trying to run Isaac ROS Visual SLAM on it.

Environment.
• ROS 2 Humble on Ubuntu.
• Isaac ROS version 3.2.
• Isaac Sim version 5.0.
• Using the Isaac Sim ROS bridge.

I start the VisualSlamNode in a component container like this:

ros2 run rclcpp_components component_container --ros-args -r __node:=ComponentManager

ros2 component load /ComponentManager \
  isaac_ros_visual_slam \
  nvidia::isaac_ros::visual_slam::VisualSlamNode \
  --param use_sim_time:=true \
  --param enable_image_denoising:=true \
  --param rectified_images:=true \
  --param enable_slam_visualization:=true \
  --param enable_observations_view:=true \
  --param enable_landmarks_view:=true \
  --param camera_optical_frames:="[Camera_OmniVision_OV9782_Left, Camera_OmniVision_OV9782_Right]" \
  --param enable_imu_fusion:=true \
  --param imu_frame:=Imu_Sensor \
  --remap visual_slam/image_0:=camera/infra1/image_rect_raw \
  --remap visual_slam/camera_info_0:=camera/infra1/camera_info \
  --remap visual_slam/image_1:=camera/infra2/image_rect_raw \
  --remap visual_slam/camera_info_1:=camera/infra2/camera_info \
  --remap visual_slam/imu:=camera/imu

My topic list includes the Visual SLAM topics, for example.

/camera/imu
/camera/infra1/camera_info
/camera/infra1/image_rect_raw
/camera/infra2/camera_info
/camera/infra2/image_rect_raw
/clock
/tf
/tf_static
/visual_slam/status
/visual_slam/tracking/odometry
/visual_slam/tracking/slam_path
/visual_slam/tracking/vo_path
/visual_slam/tracking/vo_pose
...

The Isaac Sim ROS bridge is publishing data to the camera topics and to /clock. I checked with ros2 topic echo and ros2 topic hz on the camera and clock topics, and they are updating.

However, the Visual SLAM topics are empty. For example.

ros2 topic echo /visual_slam/status

shows nothing, and I do not see messages on the other /visual_slam/tracking/... topics either.

I am not sure what is a problem? Can it be a tf?

Thank you!

2

Hello @kamila.tashimova,

Welcome to the Isaac ROS forum!

Based on your description, you are likely facing a TF frame issue. Since your input topics are active but your Visual SLAM outputs are silent, the node is probably waiting for a required coordinate transformation.

Here are the two key steps to isolate the problem:

  1. Disable IMU Fusion: Try running the node with --param enable_imu_fusion:=false and removing the IMU-related parameters and remaps.
    If it works: The issue is specifically the TF or data timing of the Imu_Sensor frame/topic.

  2. Verify TF Tree: Use rqt_tf_treeto confirm that all required frames are correctly connected to your robot’s base frame.

Check the logs of your ComponentManager for any “Waiting for transform” messages, as this will directly pinpoint the missing link.

3

Hello. Thank you for the answer.

I think the problem might not be with TF, but I’m not fully sure. I noticed something strange. When I open Isaac Sim for the first time and run the Isaac ROS VSLAM algorithm using the command I mentioned earlier, it works. It is not perfect, but at least it publishes something. Then I stop the VSLAM node, but I keep the simulation running. If I start VSLAM again, it still works for that same simulation session. (screenshot of the rviz, there is a cube in front of my robot)

Screenshot from 2025-11-29 14-39-33
Screenshot from 2025-11-29 14-39-332989×1817 248 KB

The problem happens when I stop both the VSLAM and the simulation, and then start them again from zero. After restarting everything, VSLAM no longer publishes anything to the topics. It seems like VSLAM only works with first simulation. So I think maybe the issue is inside Isaac Sim.

In Isaac Sim, I attached the RealSense camera as a rigid body to the base_link, and I get this error:

2025-11-19T14:28:45Z [2,495,381ms] [Error] [omni.physicsschema.plugin] Rigid Body of (/World/Roller2Nurdf4/base_link/Realsense/RSD455) missing xformstack reset when child of another enabled rigid body (/World/Roller2Nurdf4/base_link) in hierarchy. Simulation of multiple RigidBodyAPI's in a hierarchy will cause unpredicted results. Please fix the hierarchy or use XformStack reset.

Could this be the reason why VSLAM stops working? Or am I doing something wrong?
How can I integrate the RealSense camera correctly to my robot?

4

Hello again.
The problem still persists, and I discovered that Isaac ROS 3.2 and Isaac Sim 5.0 are not compatible. Could this also be the reason for the issue?