Autonomous mobile robot

A ROS-based autonomous mobile robot platform with 4-wheel differential drive configuration, equipped with LDS-02 2D LIDAR and RealSense D435i RGB-D camera for autonomous navigation and mapping.

Work in progress. To be updated.

Features

• Autonomous Navigation
• SLAM Capability
• Obstacle Avoidance
• PS5 Controller Teleoperation
• Sensor Integration (LDS-02 LIDAR, RealSense D435i)
• EKF-based Localization

Prerequisites

ROS and System Dependencies

• Ubuntu 18.04
• ROS Melodic
• Gazebo 9
• Python 2.7

Required ROS Packages

sudo apt-get install \
    ros-melodic-twist-mux \
    ros-melodic-robot-localization \
    ros-melodic-diff-drive-controller \
    ros-melodic-joint-state-controller \
    ros-melodic-velocity-controllers \
    ros-melodic-gazebo-ros-control \
    ros-melodic-joy \
    ros-melodic-teleop-twist-joy \
    ros-melodic-navigation

Installation

1. Create a catkin workspace (if not already created):

mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
cd ~/catkin_ws/
catkin init

2. Clone the repository:

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/sirackerman/ros_mobile_robot.git

3. Build the workspace:

cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin build
source devel/setup.bash

Usage

Environment Setup

# Set the robot model
export MOBILE_ROBOT_MODEL=custom_robot

Mapping with Gmapping

To create a map of a new environment (uses turtlebot3 worlds):

1. Launch the desired Gazebo world:

roslaunch ros_mobile_robot mobile_robot_stage_1.launch  # For Stage 1
# Or other available worlds:
# mobile_robot_stage_2.launch
# mobile_robot_stage_3.launch
# mobile_robot_stage_4.launch
# house.launch

2. Launch the mapping system:

roslaunch ros_mobile_robot robot_mapping.launch

For spawing the robot in a specific point in a world (Check robot_mapping.launch), run:

roslaunch ros_mobile_robot robot_mapping.launch x_pos:=1.0 y_pos:=1.0

3. Control the robot to explore the environment:

With the keyboard:

rosrun teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard.py

With the PS5 controller:

Install this ROS_package, ensure your PS5 controller is connected, then run:

roslaunch ps5_teleop ps5_teleop.launch 

4. After mapping the environment, save the map in your desired location:

# Save the map to your maps directory
rosrun map_server map_saver -f ~/catkin_ws/src/ros_mobile_robot/maps/my_map

Autonomous Navigation

To navigate in a known environment using a previously created map:

1. Launch navigation with the desired world and map:

roslaunch ros_mobile_robot navigation.launch map_file:=/path/to/map.yaml world_file:=/path/to/world.world

Example:

roslaunch ros_mobile_robot navigation.launch map_file:=/home/user/catkin_ws/src/ros_mobile_robot/maps/map.yaml world_file:=/home/user/catkin_ws/src/ros_mobile_robot/worlds/stage_4.world

2. Set initial robot pose in RViz using "2D Pose Estimate"

3. Set navigation goals using "2D Nav Goal" in RViz