Add backward_ros dependency by Sushant-Chavan · Pull Request #5404 · ros-navigation/navigation2

Sushant-Chavan · 2025-07-30T14:43:18Z

Basic Info

Info	Please fill out this column
Primary OS tested on	Ubuntu
Robotic platform tested on	N/A
Does this PR contain AI generated software?	No

Description of contribution in a few bullet points

Added backward_ros as a dependency to nav2 packages
This activates pretty-printed logging of back-trace on application crash
- Very detailed back-trace with code snippets and line numbers if the nav2 packages are built with RelWithDebInfo or Debug configurations. See sample output below
Does not yet work with composed-nodes. There is an open issue to address this in rclcpp.
I did not do any in-depth evaluation of impact on runtime performance. But the author of backward-cpp mentions that there is no runtime impact and only kicks in when an application crashes to generate the stack trace.

Description of how this change was tested

Deliberately reset the plan_publisher_ shared pointer right before publishing the global plan in the PlannerServer::publishPlan()
Build nav2 packages with RelWithDebInfo configuration
Start navigation with the use_composition flag set to false, using the command:
ros2 launch nav2_bringup tb3_simulation_launch.py headless:=False use_composition:=false
Send a navigation goal from RViz and check the logs for a crash in planner_server. Below are the logs generated with & without backward_ros

Logs without backward_ros dependency

[rviz2-7] Start navigation
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377648.631768181] [bt_navigator]: Begin navigating from current location (-1.99, -0.54) to (0.40, 1.87)
[planner_server-13] [INFO] [1754377648.634265021] [planner_server]: Computing path to goal....
[ERROR] [planner_server-13]: process has died [pid 165734, exit code -11, cmd '/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/nav2_planner/planner_server --ros-args --log-level info --ros-args -r __node:=planner_server -r __ns:=/ -p use_sim_time:=True --params-file /tmp/launch_params_ou47e26i -r /tf:=tf -r /tf_static:=tf_static'].
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377652.776501186] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Have not received a heartbeat from planner_server.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [ERROR] [1754377652.776564762] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: CRITICAL FAILURE: SERVER planner_server IS DOWN after not receiving a heartbeat for 4000 ms. Shutting down related nodes.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377652.776661960] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Terminating bond timer...
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377652.776679511] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Resetting managed nodes...
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377652.776693925] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating docking_server
[opennav_docking-20] [INFO] [1754377652.777353259] [docking_server]: Deactivating docking_server
[opennav_docking-20] [INFO] [1754377652.799257043] [docking_server]: Destroying bond (docking_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377652.915464654] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating waypoint_follower
[waypoint_follower-17] [INFO] [1754377652.916216375] [waypoint_follower]: Deactivating
[waypoint_follower-17] [INFO] [1754377652.916259099] [waypoint_follower]: Destroying bond (waypoint_follower) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377653.031245084] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating bt_navigator
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377653.032668964] [bt_navigator]: Deactivating
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754377653.032856395] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Requested to deactivate server but goal is still executing. Should check if action server is running before deactivating.
[bt_navigator-16] [ERROR] [1754377653.061987682] [bt_navigator_navigate_to_pose_rclcpp_node]: Failed to cancel action server for compute_path_to_pose
[bt_navigator-16] [ERROR] [1754377653.082434056] [bt_navigator_navigate_to_pose_rclcpp_node]: Failed to get result for compute_path_to_pose in node halt!
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754377653.083296698] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Aborting handle. error_code:0, error_msg:''.
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377653.083944907] [bt_navigator]: Goal canceled
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754377653.084121490] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Stopping the thread per request.
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377653.084371434] [bt_navigator]: Destroying bond (bt_navigator) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377653.207501450] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating collision_monitor
[collision_monitor-19] [INFO] [1754377653.208152003] [collision_monitor]: Deactivating
[collision_monitor-19] [INFO] [1754377653.208184623] [collision_monitor]: Destroying bond (collision_monitor) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377653.325251961] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating velocity_smoother
[velocity_smoother-18] [INFO] [1754377653.325678192] [velocity_smoother]: Deactivating
[velocity_smoother-18] [INFO] [1754377653.325731656] [velocity_smoother]: Destroying bond (velocity_smoother) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377653.444103256] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating behavior_server
[behavior_server-15] [INFO] [1754377653.445339457] [behavior_server]: Deactivating
[behavior_server-15] [INFO] [1754377653.445644234] [behavior_server]: Destroying bond (behavior_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377653.562364960] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating route_server
[route_server-14] [INFO] [1754377653.563061925] [route_server]: Deactivating
[route_server-14] [INFO] [1754377653.563208930] [route_server]: Destroying bond (route_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377653.680189859] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating planner_server

Logs with backward_ros dependency

[rviz2-7] Start navigation
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377736.954637893] [bt_navigator]: Begin navigating from current location (-2.00, -0.47) to (0.06, 2.02)
[planner_server-13] [INFO] [1754377736.955537475] [planner_server]: Computing path to goal....
[planner_server-13] Stack trace (most recent call last) in thread 173639:
[planner_server-13] #11   Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2", at 0xffffffffffffffff, in 
[planner_server-13] #10   Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x795ea7ac8c3b, in 
[planner_server-13] #9    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x795ea7a3baa3, in 
[planner_server-13] #8    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.33", at 0x795ea7ccbdb3, in 
[planner_server-13] #7  | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/future", line 1774, in _M_set_result
[planner_server-13]     |  1772: 	__try
[planner_server-13]     |  1773: 	  {
[planner_server-13]     | >1774: 	    _M_set_result(_S_task_setter(_M_result, _M_fn));
[planner_server-13]     |  1775: 	  }
[planner_server-13]     |  1776: 	__catch (const __cxxabiv1::__forced_unwind&)
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/future", line 428, in call_once<void (std::__future_base::_State_baseV2::*)(std::function<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result_base, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>()>*, bool*), std::__future_base::_State_baseV2*, std::function<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result_base, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>()>*, bool*>
[planner_server-13]     |   426:         // all calls to this function are serialized,
[planner_server-13]     |   427:         // side-effects of invoking __res only happen once
[planner_server-13]     | > 428: 	call_once(_M_once, &_State_baseV2::_M_do_set, this,
[planner_server-13]     |   429: 		  std::__addressof(__res), std::__addressof(__did_set));
[planner_server-13]     |   430: 	if (__did_set)
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/mutex", line 907, in __gthread_once
[planner_server-13]     |   906:       // XXX pthread_once does not reset the flag if an exception is thrown.
[planner_server-13]     | > 907:       if (int __e = __gthread_once(&__once._M_once, &__once_proxy))
[planner_server-13]     |   908: 	__throw_system_error(__e);
[planner_server-13]     |   909:     }
[planner_server-13]       Source "/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/c++/13/bits/gthr-default.h", line 700, in _M_run [0x795ea8356c57]
[planner_server-13]         697: __gthread_once (__gthread_once_t *__once, void (*__func) (void))
[planner_server-13]         698: {
[planner_server-13]         699:   if (__gthread_active_p ())
[planner_server-13]       > 700:     return __gthrw_(pthread_once) (__once, __func);
[planner_server-13]         701:   else
[planner_server-13]         702:     return -1;
[planner_server-13]         703: }
[planner_server-13] #6    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x795ea7a40ed2, in 
[planner_server-13] #5  | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/future", line 589, in operator()
[planner_server-13]     |   587:       _M_do_set(function<_Ptr_type()>* __f, bool* __did_set)
[planner_server-13]     |   588:       {
[planner_server-13]     | > 589:         _Ptr_type __res = (*__f)();
[planner_server-13]     |   590:         // Notify the caller that we did try to set; if we do not throw an
[planner_server-13]     |   591:         // exception, the caller will be aware that it did set (e.g., see
[planner_server-13]       Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/std_function.h", line 591, in _M_do_set [0x795ea834aa7c]
[planner_server-13]         588:       {
[planner_server-13]         589: 	if (_M_empty())
[planner_server-13]         590: 	  __throw_bad_function_call();
[planner_server-13]       > 591: 	return _M_invoker(_M_functor, std::forward<_ArgTypes>(__args)...);
[planner_server-13]         592:       }
[planner_server-13]         593: 
[planner_server-13]         594: #if __cpp_rtti
[planner_server-13] #4  | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/std_function.h", line 291, in __invoke_r<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result_base, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>, std::__future_base::_Task_setter<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result<void>, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>, std::thread::_Invoker<std::tuple<nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::handle_accepted(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_action::ServerGoalHandle<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose> >)::<lambda()> > >, void>&>
[planner_server-13]     |   289:       {
[planner_server-13]     |   290: 	return std::__invoke_r<_Res>(*_Base::_M_get_pointer(__functor),
[planner_server-13]     | > 291: 				     std::forward<_ArgTypes>(__args)...);
[planner_server-13]     |   292:       }
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/invoke.h", line 116, in __invoke_impl<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result<void>, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>, std::__future_base::_Task_setter<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result<void>, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>, std::thread::_Invoker<std::tuple<nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::handle_accepted(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_action::ServerGoalHandle<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose> >)::<lambda()> > >, void>&>
[planner_server-13]     |   114: 	return std::__invoke_impl<__type>(__tag{},
[planner_server-13]     |   115: 					  std::forward<_Callable>(__fn),
[planner_server-13]     | > 116: 					  std::forward<_Args>(__args)...);
[planner_server-13]     |   117:     }
[planner_server-13]     |   118: #else // C++11 or C++14
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/invoke.h", line 61, in operator()
[planner_server-13]     |    59:     constexpr _Res
[planner_server-13]     |    60:     __invoke_impl(__invoke_other, _Fn&& __f, _Args&&... __args)
[planner_server-13]     | >  61:     { return std::forward<_Fn>(__f)(std::forward<_Args>(__args)...); }
[planner_server-13]     |    62: 
[planner_server-13]     |    63:   template<typename _Res, typename _MemFun, typename _Tp, typename... _Args>
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/future", line 1432, in operator()
[planner_server-13]     |  1430: 	__try
[planner_server-13]     |  1431: 	  {
[planner_server-13]     | >1432: 	    (*_M_fn)();
[planner_server-13]     |  1433: 	  }
[planner_server-13]     |  1434: 	__catch(const __cxxabiv1::__forced_unwind&)
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/std_thread.h", line 299, in _M_invoke<0>
[planner_server-13]     |   297: 	  using _Indices
[planner_server-13]     |   298: 	    = typename _Build_index_tuple<tuple_size<_Tuple>::value>::__type;
[planner_server-13]     | > 299: 	  return _M_invoke(_Indices());
[planner_server-13]     |   300: 	}
[planner_server-13]     |   301:       };
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/std_thread.h", line 292, in __invoke<nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::handle_accepted(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_action::ServerGoalHandle<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose> >)::<lambda()> >
[planner_server-13]     |   290: 	  typename __result<_Tuple>::type
[planner_server-13]     |   291: 	  _M_invoke(_Index_tuple<_Ind...>)
[planner_server-13]     | > 292: 	  { return std::__invoke(std::get<_Ind>(std::move(_M_t))...); }
[planner_server-13]     |   293: 
[planner_server-13]     |   294: 	typename __result<_Tuple>::type
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/invoke.h", line 96, in __invoke_impl<void, nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::handle_accepted(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_action::ServerGoalHandle<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose> >)::<lambda()> >
[planner_server-13]     |    94:       using __type = typename __result::type;
[planner_server-13]     |    95:       using __tag = typename __result::__invoke_type;
[planner_server-13]     | >  96:       return std::__invoke_impl<__type>(__tag{}, std::forward<_Callable>(__fn),
[planner_server-13]     |    97: 					std::forward<_Args>(__args)...);
[planner_server-13]     |    98:     }
[planner_server-13]     | Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/invoke.h", line 61, in operator()
[planner_server-13]     |    59:     constexpr _Res
[planner_server-13]     |    60:     __invoke_impl(__invoke_other, _Fn&& __f, _Args&&... __args)
[planner_server-13]     | >  61:     { return std::forward<_Fn>(__f)(std::forward<_Args>(__args)...); }
[planner_server-13]     |    62: 
[planner_server-13]     |    63:   template<typename _Res, typename _MemFun, typename _Tp, typename... _Args>
[planner_server-13]       Source "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/nav2_ros_common/include/nav2_ros_common/simple_action_server.hpp", line 239, in _M_invoke [0x795ea83813c0]
[planner_server-13]         236:       execution_future_ = std::async(
[planner_server-13]         237:         std::launch::async, [this]() {
[planner_server-13]         238:           setSoftRealTimePriority();
[planner_server-13]       > 239:           work();
[planner_server-13]         240:         });
[planner_server-13]         241:     }
[planner_server-13]         242:   }
[planner_server-13] #3  | Source "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/nav2_ros_common/include/nav2_ros_common/simple_action_server.hpp", line 252, in operator()
[planner_server-13]     |   250:       debug_msg("Executing the goal...");
[planner_server-13]     |   251:       try {
[planner_server-13]     | > 252:         execute_callback_();
[planner_server-13]     |   253:       } catch (std::exception & ex) {
[planner_server-13]     |   254:         RCLCPP_ERROR(
[planner_server-13]       Source "/usr/include/c++/13/bits/std_function.h", line 591, in work [0x795ea8380944]
[planner_server-13]         588:       {
[planner_server-13]         589: 	if (_M_empty())
[planner_server-13]         590: 	  __throw_bad_function_call();
[planner_server-13]       > 591: 	return _M_invoker(_M_functor, std::forward<_ArgTypes>(__args)...);
[planner_server-13]         592:       }
[planner_server-13]         593: 
[planner_server-13]         594: #if __cpp_rtti
[planner_server-13] #2    Source "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/nav2_planner/src/planner_server.cpp", line 546, in computePlan [0x795ea8344363]
[planner_server-13]         543:     }
[planner_server-13]         544: 
[planner_server-13]         545:     // Publish the plan for visualization purposes
[planner_server-13]       > 546:     publishPlan(result->path);
[planner_server-13]         547: 
[planner_server-13]         548:     auto cycle_duration = this->now() - start_time;
[planner_server-13]         549:     result->planning_time = cycle_duration;
[planner_server-13] #1    Source "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/nav2_planner/src/planner_server.cpp", line 640, in publishPlan [0x795ea833df4a]
[planner_server-13]         637:   auto msg = std::make_unique<nav_msgs::msg::Path>(path);
[planner_server-13]         638:   RCLCPP_WARN(get_logger(), "Publishing plan with %zu poses", path.poses.size());
[planner_server-13]         639:   plan_publisher_.reset();
[planner_server-13]       > 640:   if (plan_publisher_->is_activated() && plan_publisher_->get_subscription_count() > 0) {
[planner_server-13]         641:     plan_publisher_->publish(std::move(msg));
[planner_server-13]         642:   }
[planner_server-13]         643: }
[planner_server-13] #0    Object "/opt/ros/rolling/lib/librclcpp_lifecycle.so", at 0x795ea80f1f94, in rclcpp_lifecycle::SimpleManagedEntity::is_activated() const
[planner_server-13] Segmentation fault (Address not mapped to object [0x8])
[ERROR] [planner_server-13]: process has died [pid 172784, exit code -11, cmd '/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/nav2_planner/planner_server --ros-args --log-level info --ros-args -r __node:=planner_server -r __ns:=/ -p use_sim_time:=True --params-file /tmp/launch_params_px13xl6j -r /tf:=tf -r /tf_static:=tf_static'].
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.311127479] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Have not received a heartbeat from planner_server.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [ERROR] [1754377741.311199220] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: CRITICAL FAILURE: SERVER planner_server IS DOWN after not receiving a heartbeat for 4000 ms. Shutting down related nodes.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.311276663] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Terminating bond timer...
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.311290870] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Resetting managed nodes...
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.311301699] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating docking_server
[opennav_docking-20] [INFO] [1754377741.311769074] [docking_server]: Deactivating docking_server
[opennav_docking-20] [INFO] [1754377741.342044972] [docking_server]: Destroying bond (docking_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.456373263] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating waypoint_follower
[waypoint_follower-17] [INFO] [1754377741.457138274] [waypoint_follower]: Deactivating
[waypoint_follower-17] [INFO] [1754377741.457205291] [waypoint_follower]: Destroying bond (waypoint_follower) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.572234297] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating bt_navigator
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377741.572785873] [bt_navigator]: Deactivating
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754377741.572864426] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Requested to deactivate server but goal is still executing. Should check if action server is running before deactivating.
[bt_navigator-16] [ERROR] [1754377741.594958660] [bt_navigator_navigate_to_pose_rclcpp_node]: Failed to cancel action server for compute_path_to_pose
[bt_navigator-16] [ERROR] [1754377741.615126369] [bt_navigator_navigate_to_pose_rclcpp_node]: Failed to get result for compute_path_to_pose in node halt!
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754377741.615465459] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Aborting handle. error_code:0, error_msg:''.
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377741.615764530] [bt_navigator]: Goal canceled
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754377741.615861834] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Stopping the thread per request.
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754377741.616305682] [bt_navigator]: Destroying bond (bt_navigator) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.734371342] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating collision_monitor
[collision_monitor-19] [INFO] [1754377741.735557303] [collision_monitor]: Deactivating
[collision_monitor-19] [INFO] [1754377741.735761427] [collision_monitor]: Destroying bond (collision_monitor) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.855522185] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating velocity_smoother
[velocity_smoother-18] [INFO] [1754377741.855967907] [velocity_smoother]: Deactivating
[velocity_smoother-18] [INFO] [1754377741.856026630] [velocity_smoother]: Destroying bond (velocity_smoother) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377741.970283622] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating behavior_server
[behavior_server-15] [INFO] [1754377741.971206856] [behavior_server]: Deactivating
[behavior_server-15] [INFO] [1754377741.971436228] [behavior_server]: Destroying bond (behavior_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377742.086493739] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating route_server
[route_server-14] [INFO] [1754377742.087515287] [route_server]: Deactivating
[route_server-14] [INFO] [1754377742.087567390] [route_server]: Destroying bond (route_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754377742.202508544] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating planner_server

Future work that may be required in bullet points

None

For Maintainers:

Check that any new parameters added are updated in docs.nav2.org
Check that any significant change is added to the migration guide
Check that any new features OR changes to existing behaviors are reflected in the tuning guide
Check that any new functions have Doxygen added
Check that any new features have test coverage
Check that any new plugins is added to the plugins page
If BT Node, Additionally: add to BT's XML index of nodes for groot, BT package's readme table, and BT library lists
Should this be backported to current distributions? If so, tag with backport-*.

Signed-off-by: Sushant Chavan <gitecsvc@gmail.com>

mergify · 2025-07-30T15:46:45Z

@Sushant-Chavan, your PR has failed to build. Please check CI outputs and resolve issues.
You may need to rebase or pull in main due to API changes (or your contribution genuinely fails).

SteveMacenski

LGTM. Two questions:

How does this look when a crash occurs? Can you cause one on a normal nav2_bringup composed bringup and let me know (a) the logging output (b) what do the other servers react to it
Did you do any perf testing to check on the runtime difference on this addition? Anything appreciable?

Sushant-Chavan · 2025-08-01T15:12:26Z

Sorry, this PR was meant to be for my fork. Unfortunately I didnt realize that I created an upstream PR until you reviewed it 😞

I am yet to test it properly, so setting this PR as a draft for now. But I realized that using backward_ros with composed node will not work and there is already an open issue in rclcpp for addressing this.

I will perform some tests without node composition and re-request a review with the details you requested :)

Sushant-Chavan · 2025-08-05T08:26:59Z

I was able to do some tests to see the effects of using backward_ros. I updated the PR description with details of the same, along with answers to your questions :)

what do the other servers react to it

The behavior of other servers was exactly the same in both cases as can be seen in the app logs.

SteveMacenski · 2025-08-05T16:42:04Z

Pull in main and CI should pass now. I hot-fixed an issue with load balancing packages to stay under a 1 hour build time in worst-case situations like this where we rebuild from the ground up

Build nav2 packages with RelWithDebInfo configuration
Start navigation with the use_composition flag set to false, using the command: ros2 launch nav2_bringup tb3_simulation_launch.py headless:=False use_composition:=false

I think adding these instructions to https://docs.nav2.org/tutorials/docs/get_backtrace.html for the backward ros section is important context to add.

What happens if we don't use RelWithDebInfo? Just wanting to know the output and if its useful. I expect it provides some context, yeah?

I realized that using backward_ros with composed node will not work and there is already an ros2/rclcpp#2396 for addressing this

Whats your sense on the likelihood of this being completed?

mergify · 2025-08-06T07:00:01Z

@Sushant-Chavan, your PR has failed to build. Please check CI outputs and resolve issues.
You may need to rebase or pull in main due to API changes (or your contribution genuinely fails).

Sushant-Chavan · 2025-08-06T07:10:17Z

Pull in main and CI should pass now

Done

I think adding these instructions to https://docs.nav2.org/tutorials/docs/get_backtrace.html for the backward ros section is important context to add.

Created a PR for updating the docs: ros-navigation/docs.nav2.org#753

Whats your sense on the likelihood of this being completed?

It seems the maintainer of rclpp agrees that it is indeed a good idea to have this feature. But I am not sure how high this issue is on their priority list. I pinged them to check the status on that issue, waiting for their response

What happens if we don't use RelWithDebInfo? Just wanting to know the output and if its useful. I expect it provides some context, yeah?

Yes, you will get some context to narrow down where the issue is coming from. But it will not pin-point to the exact line of code causing the crash. Below is the log generated with the same test scenario, but Nav2 built with Release config

[rviz2-7] Start navigation
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754463292.959638390] [bt_navigator]: Begin navigating from current location (-1.97, -0.49) to (-0.08, 2.00)
[planner_server-13] [INFO] [1754463292.960594359] [planner_server]: Computing path to goal....
[planner_server-13] Stack trace (most recent call last) in thread 130805:
[planner_server-13] #11   Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2", at 0xffffffffffffffff, in 
[planner_server-13] #10   Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x7509de004c3b, in 
[planner_server-13] #9    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x7509ddf77aa3, in 
[planner_server-13] #8    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.33", at 0x7509de207db3, in 
[planner_server-13] #7    Object "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/libplanner_server_core.so", at 0x7509de887ee7, in std::__future_base::_Async_state_impl<std::thread::_Invoker<std::tuple<nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::handle_accepted(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_action::ServerGoalHandle<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose> >)::{lambda()#1}> >, void>::_M_run()
[planner_server-13] #6    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x7509ddf7ced2, in 
[planner_server-13] #5    Object "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/libplanner_server_core.so", at 0x7509de8825cc, in std::__future_base::_State_baseV2::_M_do_set(std::function<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result_base, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter> ()>*, bool*)
[planner_server-13] #4    Object "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/libplanner_server_core.so", at 0x7509de8bd380, in std::_Function_handler<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result_base, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter> (), std::__future_base::_Task_setter<std::unique_ptr<std::__future_base::_Result<void>, std::__future_base::_Result_base::_Deleter>, std::thread::_Invoker<std::tuple<nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::handle_accepted(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_action::ServerGoalHandle<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose> >)::{lambda()#1}> >, void> >::_M_invoke(std::_Any_data const&)
[planner_server-13] #3    Object "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/libplanner_server_core.so", at 0x7509de8bc2f4, in nav2::SimpleActionServer<nav2_msgs::action::ComputePathToPose>::work()
[planner_server-13] #2    Object "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/libplanner_server_core.so", at 0x7509de87b798, in nav2_planner::PlannerServer::computePlan()
[planner_server-13] #1    Object "/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/libplanner_server_core.so", at 0x7509de873ce4, in nav2_planner::PlannerServer::publishPlan(nav_msgs::msg::Path_<std::allocator<void> > const&)
[planner_server-13] #0    Object "/opt/ros/rolling/lib/librclcpp_lifecycle.so", at 0x7509de62bf94, in rclcpp_lifecycle::SimpleManagedEntity::is_activated() const
[planner_server-13] Segmentation fault (Address not mapped to object [0x8])
[ERROR] [planner_server-13]: process has died [pid 129889, exit code -11, cmd '/opt/overlay_ws/src/navigation2/install/nav2_planner/lib/nav2_planner/planner_server --ros-args --log-level info --ros-args -r __node:=planner_server -r __ns:=/ -p use_sim_time:=True --params-file /tmp/launch_params_apyru5sq -r /tf:=tf -r /tf_static:=tf_static'].
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463296.983307895] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Have not received a heartbeat from planner_server.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [ERROR] [1754463296.983366864] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: CRITICAL FAILURE: SERVER planner_server IS DOWN after not receiving a heartbeat for 4000 ms. Shutting down related nodes.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463296.983441085] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Terminating bond timer...
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463296.983452753] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Resetting managed nodes...
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463296.983459892] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating docking_server
[opennav_docking-20] [INFO] [1754463296.984245322] [docking_server]: Deactivating docking_server
[opennav_docking-20] [INFO] [1754463297.002580425] [docking_server]: Destroying bond (docking_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.117445489] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating waypoint_follower
[waypoint_follower-17] [INFO] [1754463297.117987811] [waypoint_follower]: Deactivating
[waypoint_follower-17] [INFO] [1754463297.118062979] [waypoint_follower]: Destroying bond (waypoint_follower) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.235593800] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating bt_navigator
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754463297.236281265] [bt_navigator]: Deactivating
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754463297.236385551] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Requested to deactivate server but goal is still executing. Should check if action server is running before deactivating.
[bt_navigator-16] [ERROR] [1754463297.260222224] [bt_navigator_navigate_to_pose_rclcpp_node]: Failed to cancel action server for compute_path_to_pose
[bt_navigator-16] [ERROR] [1754463297.280637622] [bt_navigator_navigate_to_pose_rclcpp_node]: Failed to get result for compute_path_to_pose in node halt!
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754463297.281230649] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Aborting handle. error_code:0, error_msg:''.
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754463297.281471797] [bt_navigator]: Goal canceled
[bt_navigator-16] [WARN] [1754463297.281535018] [bt_navigator]: [navigate_to_pose] [ActionServer] Stopping the thread per request.
[bt_navigator-16] [INFO] [1754463297.281735336] [bt_navigator]: Destroying bond (bt_navigator) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.399884645] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating collision_monitor
[collision_monitor-19] [INFO] [1754463297.400991688] [collision_monitor]: Deactivating
[collision_monitor-19] [INFO] [1754463297.401080186] [collision_monitor]: Destroying bond (collision_monitor) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.519304697] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating velocity_smoother
[velocity_smoother-18] [INFO] [1754463297.520282723] [velocity_smoother]: Deactivating
[velocity_smoother-18] [INFO] [1754463297.520360207] [velocity_smoother]: Destroying bond (velocity_smoother) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.635293658] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating behavior_server
[behavior_server-15] [INFO] [1754463297.636249442] [behavior_server]: Deactivating
[behavior_server-15] [INFO] [1754463297.636403848] [behavior_server]: Destroying bond (behavior_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.750896319] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating route_server
[route_server-14] [INFO] [1754463297.751678080] [route_server]: Deactivating
[route_server-14] [INFO] [1754463297.751800100] [route_server]: Destroying bond (route_server) to lifecycle manager.
[lifecycle_manager-21] [INFO] [1754463297.867020752] [lifecycle_manager_navigation]: Deactivating planner_server

Signed-off-by: Sushant Chavan <gitecsvc@gmail.com>

Add backward_ros dependency

1389e07

Signed-off-by: Sushant Chavan <gitecsvc@gmail.com>

Sushant-Chavan force-pushed the feature/setup_backward_ros branch from 4d3d62d to 1389e07 Compare July 30, 2025 14:45

SteveMacenski approved these changes Jul 31, 2025

View reviewed changes

Sushant-Chavan marked this pull request as draft August 1, 2025 15:12

Sushant-Chavan marked this pull request as ready for review August 5, 2025 08:19

Merge branch 'main' into feature/setup_backward_ros

c1e154b

Sushant-Chavan mentioned this pull request Aug 6, 2025

Extend backward_ros documentation ros-navigation/docs.nav2.org#753

Merged

SteveMacenski merged commit d93c129 into ros-navigation:main Aug 6, 2025
11 of 12 checks passed

SakshayMahna pushed a commit to SakshayMahna/navigation2 that referenced this pull request Aug 8, 2025

Add backward_ros dependency (ros-navigation#5404)

52d0d3a

Signed-off-by: Sushant Chavan <gitecsvc@gmail.com>

Sushant-Chavan deleted the feature/setup_backward_ros branch August 8, 2025 11:24

BCKSELFDRIVEWORLD pushed a commit to BCKSELFDRIVEWORLD/navigation2 that referenced this pull request Sep 23, 2025

Add backward_ros dependency (ros-navigation#5404)

d5da59c

Signed-off-by: Sushant Chavan <gitecsvc@gmail.com>

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Add backward_ros dependency#5404

Add backward_ros dependency#5404
SteveMacenski merged 2 commits intoros-navigation:mainfrom
Sushant-Chavan:feature/setup_backward_ros

Sushant-Chavan commented Jul 30, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

mergify bot commented Jul 30, 2025

Uh oh!

SteveMacenski left a comment

Uh oh!

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 1, 2025

Uh oh!

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 5, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

SteveMacenski commented Aug 5, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

mergify bot commented Aug 6, 2025

Uh oh!

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 6, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

Conversation

Sushant-Chavan commented Jul 30, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Basic Info

Description of contribution in a few bullet points

Description of how this change was tested

Logs without backward_ros dependency

Logs with backward_ros dependency

Future work that may be required in bullet points

For Maintainers:

Uh oh!

mergify bot commented Jul 30, 2025

Uh oh!

SteveMacenski left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 1, 2025

Uh oh!

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 5, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

SteveMacenski commented Aug 5, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

mergify bot commented Aug 6, 2025

Uh oh!

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 6, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

Sushant-Chavan commented Jul 30, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 5, 2025 •

edited

Loading

SteveMacenski commented Aug 5, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Sushant-Chavan commented Aug 6, 2025 •

edited

Loading