Useful Documentation

MAGICC Motion Capture Tutorial (MOCAP) Guide: MAGICC Wiki – MOCAP Tutorial

ROS Node Documentation (receives position topics): vrpn_mocap – ROS Index(jazzy)

Before Start

  1. Connected to MAGGIC network
    1. Password is printed on the surface of the router(next the the desktop used for MOCAP Room)
  2. Set markers for the object you want to track
    1. Do not place the markers in a perfectly symmetrical pattern — this can cause tracking errors.
    2. Position them in a random, non-symmetrical arrangement.
    3. Need at least four markers on the object
  3. Open Motive
    1. There is a power strip located under the corner of the table; press the button labeled with “Mocap.”
    2. Important: Turn it off after use to prevent the cameras from overheating.
  4. Install the vrpn_mocap node

    1. Official instructions and commands: vrpn_mocap – ROS Index(jazzy)

    2. On the top part, select the ros2 version you are using, we are using jazzy in this case

      Screenshot 2025-08-11 at 1.39.30 PM.png

    3. Clone the repository into your ROS 2 workspace with this command:sudo apt install ros-<rosdistro>-vrpn-mocap

    4. Install dependencies: rosdep install --from-paths src -y --ignore-src

    5. Build the workspace: colcon build

    6. Source your ROS 2 environment(Or use your preferred shell setup.): source install/setup.zsh, etc.

Tracking the Vehicle/Object

  1. In the menu, select “View → Assets Pane”

  2. Select the asset you have already created.

    1. If you haven’t created one yet, see the Create an Asset guide right below.

  3. Click the Streaming icon (bottom-right, to the left of the bell icon) and disable both NatNet and VRPN.

    Screenshot 2025-08-11 at 1.54.52 PM.png

    IMG_7708.HEIC

  4. Launching the Default Configuration of vrpn_mocap from the Command Line

    1. Run the following command in your terminal: ros2 launch vrpn_mocap client.launch.yaml server:**=192.168.1.3** port:**=**3883
    2. After running the launch command, re-enable VRPN and NatNet.
    3. If it doesn’t start working, double-check that you are connected to the MAGICC Wi-Fi network.

  5. Tools

    1. View the Published Position Node
      1. Open another terminal and run:ros2 topic list
      2. You should find a topic named:/vrpn_mocap/<asset_name>/pose
      3. To see the live position data, run: ros2 topic echo /vrpn_mocap/<asset_name>/pose
      4. To check the publishing rate (Hz), run:ros2 topic hz /vrpn_mocap/<asset_name>/pose
    2. Adjust the Publishing Rate
      1. If you only need position data for GPS, the rate needed is only around 10 Hz, which is much lower than the default MoCap publishing rate, so you would be fine.

Create an Assets

  1. After placing the markers on the object you want to track, select all markers visible on the screen.

    IMG_7709.HEIC