Tutorial: Map, Navigate ROS2 Robot in Simulation

This post is work-in-progress. Please check back for updates.

Step 1 – Install Software Prerequisites

The simulation works both on Windows and Ubuntu PCs.

Windows PC installation – watch the video below.

• Install WSL2, Docker for Windows, VcXsrv and Windows PowerShell.
• Pull the kaiaai/kaiaai:iron Docker image.
• Skip and ignore all Arduino and firmware installation.
• Optionally, install XnView to view map files in PGM format

Ubuntu PC installation – watch the video below.

• Install Docker Engine for Ubuntu and Terminator.
• Pull the kaiaai/kaiaai:iron Docker image.
• Skip and ignore all Arduino and firmware installation.

Step 2 – Watch Instructions Video

Step 3 – Launch Docker

Windows PC

• Launch Docker
• Launch XLaunch
• Launch PowerShell
• Launch Docker image, see command below

docker run --name makerspet -it --rm -v c:\maps:/root/maps -p 8888:8888/udp -e DISPLAY=host.docker.internal:0.0 -e LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=0 kaiaai/kaiaai:iron

• Open two more Bash terminals inside the newly created Docker container, see command below

docker exec -it makerspet bash

Ubuntu PC

• Launch Docker
• Launch Docker image, see command below

sudo docker run --name makerspet -it --rm -v ~/maps:/root/maps -p 8888:8888/udp -e DISPLAY -e QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1 --volume="/tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw" --volume="${XAUTHORITY}:/root/.Xauthority" kaiaai/kaiaai:iron

• Open two more Bash terminals inside the newly created Docker container, see command below

sudo docker exec -it makerspet bash

Step 3 – Launch Robot Simulation (Gazebo), Drive Manually

Inside the Docker container, run the command below:

ros2 launch kaiaai_gazebo world.launch.py

Launch the manual teleoperation utility using the command below:

ros2 run kaiaai_teleop teleop_keyboard

Drive the robot inside the 3D Gazebo simulation using keys W, S, A, D and the space bar.

Step 4 – Create Map, Navigate Using SLAM

Launch ROS2 Nav2 SLAM using the command below:

ros2 launch kaiaai_bringup navigation.launch.py use_sim_time:=true slam:=True

Give the robot a destination (goal) to self-drive (navigate) to:

• Left-click the Nav2 Goal button in RViz
• Left-click-and-hold on the map at a destination of your choosing
• Drag in the direction you want your robot to face upon arrival
• Release the mouse button
• Wait for the robot to arrive to the destination

Repeat giving the robot new goals until the entire map has been explored. Save the map using the command below.

ros2 run nav2_map_server map_saver_cli -f ~/maps/map --ros-args -p save_map_timeout:=60.0

FYI, instead of having the robot drive automatically, you can drive the robot manually using the teleop_keyboard utility.