🔥 Fix: rosbag recorder records all topics — data size explodes (especially with Nav2)

[PurpleSand123]

🎯 Problem

The rosbag recorder in docker-compose.yml uses ros2 bag record -a which records all topics. This causes the recorded bag size to explode, especially when Nav2 is running.

Current command (docker-compose.yml L306):

ros2 bag record -a -o /workspace/rosbags/recording_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S) --exclude-topics /front_stereo_camera/left/image_raw

Only the raw camera image is excluded. All other high-bandwidth topics are still recorded.

📊 High-Bandwidth Topics Being Recorded

When Nav2 is running, the following topics publish at high frequency and/or large message sizes:

Topic	Type	Why it's large
/front_3d_lidar/lidar_points	sensor_msgs/PointCloud2	3D LiDAR point cloud — very large per message
/local_costmap/costmap	nav_msgs/OccupancyGrid	Updated at controller frequency (~20 Hz)
/global_costmap/costmap	nav_msgs/OccupancyGrid	Full map-sized grid, updated periodically
/map	nav_msgs/OccupancyGrid	Static map (large, but infrequent)
/front_stereo_camera/left/image_raw/compressed	sensor_msgs/CompressedImage	The republished compressed image is still recorded
/tf	tf2_msgs/TFMessage	High frequency transform updates
Nav2 internal topics	Various	/local_costmap/costmap_raw, /global_costmap/costmap_raw, planner internals, etc.

💡 Proposed Fix

Switch from record -a (all topics) to explicitly listing only the topics needed for data collection and evaluation:

ros2 bag record \
  /chassis/odom \
  /cmd_vel \
  /front_stereo_camera/left/image_raw/compressed \
  /joy \
  /tf \
  /tf_static \
  /start_marker \
  /goal_marker \
  /plan \
  /goal_pose \
  -o /workspace/rosbags/recording_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

Alternatively, use --exclude-regex to drop the known heavy topics:

ros2 bag record -a \
  --exclude-regex '.*costmap.*|.*lidar_points.*|.*image_raw$|.*bond.*|.*parameter_events.*' \
  -o /workspace/rosbags/recording_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

📎 References

• File: docker-compose.yml L290-307
• Data processing config: costnav_isaacsim/il_baselines/data_processing/configs/processing_config.yaml (only uses /front_stereo_camera/left/image_raw)