3D Map Navigation

Localize and plan on a point-cloud map built with 3D SLAM.

When a flat 2D grid isn't enough — think ramps, split levels, or anything where height matters — you navigate against the point-cloud map you captured with 3D SLAM instead. 3D map navigation localizes the robot against that .pcd and plans paths over it.

Two pieces come up together: ICP localization, which matches the live LiDAR against the saved point cloud to track where the robot is, and the PCT planner, which plans a route from there to a goal. One thing to design around: this localizes and plans only — it doesn't drive the robot. A separate motion controller consumes the planned path, so pair it accordingly.

In the portal

The OpenMind portal lets you load a 3D (point-cloud) map and set navigation goals against it from the machine's autonomy view, the same way you would for a 2D map.

Before you start

• You have a map with a saved .pcd — meaning it was saved while 3D SLAM was running.

• The robot type supports 3D (slam_3d_supported in GET /status).

• SLAM and Nav2 are both stopped.

Running it

Start it against a 3D map:

curl -X POST http://<robot>:5000/start/nav3d \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"map_name": "warehouse"}'

The planner listens for goal poses on its goal topic (/goal_pose by default) and publishes the path it finds. Send goals from your integration or the portal. When you're done:

curl -X POST http://<robot>:5000/stop/nav3d -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{}'

Parameters

POST /start/nav3d

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
map_name	string	yes	—	A map with a saved .pcd
scene	string	no	Isaacsim	Tomography scene config
goal_topic	string	no	/goal_pose	Topic the planner listens on for goals
goal_layer	int	no	0	Tomogram layer index for the goal

If something goes wrong

• 400 — SLAM or Nav2 is running, or 3D nav is already up. Stop the other one first.

• 404 — the map has no .pcd; it wasn't saved during 3D SLAM.

• 400 unsupported — the robot type has no 3D stack.

For system endpoints like GET /status and base control, see the Autonomy API Overview.