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wtf is rtabmap?

introlab/rtabmap — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

★ 3,768C++Audience · researcherComplexity · 4/5LicenseSetup · hard

TL;DR

RTAB-Map is a C++ robotics library that lets a robot or camera-equipped device figure out where it is and build a map of its surroundings simultaneously, a technique called SLAM. Works with ROS or as a standalone app on desktop, Android, and iOS.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((rtabmap))
    What it does
      SLAM mapping
      Localization
      Place recognition
    Tech Stack
      C++
      ROS 1 and 2
      Docker
    Use Cases
      Autonomous robots
      Drone navigation
      3D environment maps
    Audience
      Robotics researchers
      Systems engineers

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Build a robot that maps an unknown room while navigating it at the same time.

REASON 2

Add real-time position tracking to an autonomous drone or vehicle.

REASON 3

Create a 3D map of a physical space using a handheld depth camera.

REASON 4

Integrate visual place-recognition into a ROS-based robotics project.

What's in the stack?

C++ROSROS 2DockerAndroidiOS

How it stacks up

introlab/rtabmapqihoo360/evppf4exb/sdrangel
Stars3,7683,7673,770
LanguageC++C++C++
Setup difficultyhardmoderatehard
Complexity4/54/54/5
Audienceresearcherdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires a working ROS installation and a compatible depth or stereo camera, GPU acceleration is optional but recommended for real-time performance.

Use, modify, and distribute freely including for commercial purposes, as long as you retain the copyright notice. BSD license.

Wtf does this do

RTAB-Map is a C++ library and standalone application for mapping and localization used in robotics. The name stands for Real-Time Appearance-Based Mapping. In practical terms, it lets a robot or a device with a camera figure out where it is in a space and build a map of that space at the same time, a task the robotics field calls SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping). As the robot moves, RTAB-Map recognizes previously seen places by their visual appearance and uses that to correct its position estimate over time. The library works as a component inside ROS, the Robot Operating System, which is a widely used framework in academic and commercial robotics. It also runs without ROS as a standalone app, and it supports Android and iOS through the listed topics. It can be installed through standard ROS package repositories for both ROS 1 and ROS 2, or pulled as a Docker image. The project comes from IntRoLab, a robotics research lab at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. The README is brief and points to a project website and a wiki for installation instructions, usage examples, and links to academic papers. The code is released under a BSD license. If you are not working in robotics or autonomous systems, this library is unlikely to be relevant. It is a research tool built for people building robots or autonomous devices that need to navigate physical spaces.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
I want to use RTAB-Map with ROS 2 to build a map of my apartment using a RealSense depth camera. Walk me through the setup steps and the launch commands I need.
Prompt 2
Using RTAB-Map's standalone app on Android, how do I record a 3D map of a room and export it as a point cloud?
Prompt 3
I'm building an autonomous robot in ROS. How do I configure RTAB-Map so it corrects its location estimate when it revisits a place it has already seen?
Prompt 4
Show me how to pull the RTAB-Map Docker image, run it with a live camera feed, and visualize the resulting 3D map.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is rtabmap?

RTAB-Map is a C++ robotics library that lets a robot or camera-equipped device figure out where it is and build a map of its surroundings simultaneously, a technique called SLAM. Works with ROS or as a standalone app on desktop, Android, and iOS.

What language is rtabmap written in?

Mainly C++. The stack also includes C++, ROS, ROS 2.

What license does rtabmap use?

Use, modify, and distribute freely including for commercial purposes, as long as you retain the copyright notice. BSD license.

How hard is rtabmap to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is rtabmap for?

Mainly researcher.

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