# generate a map using pointclouds

Source: https://forum.modalai.com/topic/1038/generate-a-map-using-pointclouds
Category: General Questions (https://forum.modalai.com/category/2/general-questions)
Posted: 2022-06-20 07:35:19 UTC by howard
Replies: 3 · Views: 738

## howard · 2022-06-20 07:35:19 UTC

Hi,I could get pointcloud in rviz using voxl_mpa_to_rosHow can I generate a map using pointcloud that I get from tof_ir?
Thank you

## Reply by Guest · 2022-06-20 16:16:29 UTC

Hello,

The voxl-mapper project can generate a map from tof based pointclouds, and does not require ROS/RVIZ. You can find the source for it [here](https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-mapper) or install it directly with ```opkg install voxl-mapper```. Note that the project as a whole is still in beta, the mapping component is very stable but the autonomous flying (and safety checks) are very much under active development. We encourage you to play with both, but to be very vigilant if conducting autonomous flights.

## Reply by howard · 2022-06-21 06:33:38 UTC

I was just trying voxl-mapper out I got the following error, can you please help
```
ERROR fetching tf from tf ringbuffer
there wasn't sufficient data in the buffer
```

## Reply by Guest · 2022-06-21 16:26:59 UTC

@keil, 

Errors referencing the ```tf ringbuffer``` in voxl-mapper typically mean there is an issue getting position data back from the voxl-vision-px4 service. Please read through the [user guide](https://gitlab.com/voxl-public/voxl-sdk/services/voxl-mapper/-/blob/master/README.md) before getting started, as you will need a few other services active in order to use voxl-mapper without errors.