Processing Navigation Data in ROS2: Conversion Formulas and Working with Coordinate Systems

In recent years, autonomous mobile robots and unmanned vehicles have become increasingly widespread, especially in challenging environments with limited infrastructure – such as open-pit mines or remote facilities. In such systems, the accuracy and reliability of positioning are crucial, as they directly affect both safety and operational efficiency. Modern GNSS receivers that support NMEA, UBX protocols and RTK/PPK correction services are capable of providing high-precision data. However, for practical use, this data must be properly processed and converted into formats suitable for localization algorithms. The ROS 2 ecosystem provides dedicated packages to facilitate the integration and processing of navigation data. The most commonly used is the nmea_navsat_driver, which receives NMEA messages and converts them into standardized ROS 2 messages. This paper provides a detailed overview of the GNSS data receipt and processing method and in ROS 2 – from parsing NMEA messages to converting coordinates from the global WGS 84 system into local metric systems such as ENU and UTM using the navsat_transform_node. Special attention is paid to driver configuration, message structure, and common issues encountered when working with GNSS.