whl-logmap

The whl-logmap tool enables the automated and interactive creation of Apollo-format HD maps from raw recorded trajectories. A single pass along a path is enough to generate a fully optimized, spatially smooth map. The tool features an industry-leading Interactive Pipeline Editor, empowering developers to visually tune smoothing parameters, resolve high-curvature anomalies, and perfectly close loopbacks.

Key Features

• Trajectory Extraction & Map Generation: Extract your trajectory (position and heading) from standard Cyber records and compile it directly into Apollo map_pb .txt and .bin formats.
• Parametric Generation: Generate perfectly straight lanes parametrically utilizing standard start positions (x, y), heading, and lengths.
• Interactive UI Editor (Enabled by default): Review your map dynamically. You can use sliders to tune resampling logic via the Ramer-Douglas-Peucker (RDP) algorithm, smoothing windows, and max curvatures.
• High-Curvature Highlighting & Point Editing: If point curvatures exceed a maximum tolerable limit (indicating erratic vehicle tracking or sharp GPS jumps), they are flagged on the visualization with small yellow dots. You can directly drag-and-drop red map nodes to smooth the anomalies seamlessly.
• Automatic Loop closure (Loopback): Identify and smoothly weld cyclic trajectories that begin and end near the same spot.

Install

pip3 install whl_logmap

(Note: We recommend running this inside an activated virtual environment or your Apollo workspace).

Quick Start

1. Generate from a Recorded Trajectory

If you have recorded your vehicle's trajectory using tools like cyber_recorder record -c /apollo/localization/pose, you can feed the directory directly:

# Will launch interactive editor by default
whl-logmap --input_path=your_record_dir/
# OR
whl-logmap -i your_record_file.record.00000

2. Generate from raw x,y,heading params

Useful for creating baseline testing scenarios without vehicle recordings.

# x,y,heading(radians)[,forward,backward,spacing]
whl-logmap --path_params="221247.67,2517672.17,1.0,10,50,0.5"

Interactive Editor Guide

By default, executing the tool processes your points and pops up an interactive Matplotlib Viewer.

• Stage 1 (Structure): Tune Outlier Threshold, RDP Epsilon (simplifies raw points before interpolation), and Resample Space (uniform spacing for the nodes). Changing these will rebuild your initial scaffolding.
• Stage 2 (Smoothing & Edit):
  • Enable Loopback to close loop tracks.
  • Tune the Smooth Window for overall trajectory smoothness.
  • Set a Max Curvature. Any points on the smoothed path that violate your vehicle's turning limits will light up as yellow elements.
  • Using your mouse, simply drag the red resampled layout points near those yellow alerts outward/inward to relax the curvature securely.

Options & Flags

• -i, --input_path: Path to the records (directory or single file) (CSV format internally managed: x,y).
• --path_params: Comma-separated parameters for dynamic straight path generation.
• -o, --output_path: Path to the output maps directory (default: map).
• --max_curvature: Maximum allowed baseline curvature (default None). Suggested 0.2 or approx 95% of your vehicle's physical limit.
• --loopback_threshold: Distance threshold to close the loop in meters (default 3.0).
• --interactive: Enable the Matplotlib tuning UI (Enabled by default).
• --no_interactive: Disables the GUI, allowing pure headless execution in CI loops based on default or passed params.
• --force: Force regeneration of path.txt even if it already exists.