MapMyWorld

Overview

This project is the fourth project in Udacity Robotics Software Engineer nano degree where the world was mapped using rtabmap which produces both 2D-maps and 3D-maps also can be used for navigation. In addition, joy package was used to move the rbot during the mapping process and it can also be replaced by teleop_twist_keyboard.

Keywords: ROS, rtabmap, 3D-map, mapping, navigation, SLAM.

Author: Mennatallah Aly

The MapMyWorld package has been tested under ROS Melodic on Ubuntu 18.04. and Gazebo 9.0.0

Installation

Installation from Packages

To install all packages from the this repository as Debian packages use

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-navigation
sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-map-server
sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-move-base
sudo apt install ros-melodic-rtabmap-ros
sudo apt install ros-melodic-rtabmap

To navigate with keyboard

sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-teleop-twist-keyboard

To navigate with joystick

sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-joy ros-melodic-joystick-drivers

Or better, use rosdep:

sudo rosdep install --from-paths src

Building from Source

To build from source, clone the latest version from this repository into your catkin workspace and compile the package using

cd catkin_ws/src
sudo apt update
git clone https://github.com/Mennatallah98/MapMyWorld.git
cd ../
rosdep install --from-paths . --ignore-src
catkin_make

Source the workspace by adding this line .bashrc

source ~/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash

Usage

In a new terminal

Open the world the world in gazebo and rviz with the rbot included

roslaunch my_robot world.launch

Mapping

In another window run the teleop node.

For the joystick:

roslaunch my_robot joy.launch

For keyboard:

rosrun teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard.py

In another window run rtabmap in mapping mode.

roslaunch my_robot mapping.launch

For a map with clear features go around the world at least 3 times to achieve loop closure

Localization

In another window run rtabmap in localization mode.

roslaunch my_robot localization.launch

Config files

Config file folder/config

base_local_planner_params.yaml: contains the parameters for base_local_planner which is responsible for computing velocity commands to send to the mobile base.
costmap_common_params.yaml: contains the common parameters between the global and local costmap.
global_costmap_params.yaml: contains the parameters for global costmap.
local_costmap_params.yaml: contains the parameters for local costmap.

Launch files

robot_description.launch: Runs the robot file and starts the joint publisher robot state publisher.
world.launch: Starts rviz customized configuration and gazebo with the customized world , spawns the robot and launches robot_description.
joy.launch: Runs joy node with customized joy script.
mapping.launch: Runs rtabmap in mapping mode wit args="--delete_db_on_start" and rtabmap visulization.
localization.launch: Runs rtabmap in localization mode without args="--delete_db_on_start" in addition to move_base.

Packages

my_robot: Contains the URDF of r 4-wheeled under the name of my_robot with the attached sensors including depth camera in addition to the world with robot embbeded in aldo the modified configuartion files and the world map also joy_teleop node which controls the robot using the joystick.

Nodes

joy_teleop

Sends velocity commands to the robot according to the buttons pressed in the joystick

Subscribed Topics

/cmd_vel (geometry_msgs/Twist)

The speed to move the robot.

Published Topics

/joy (sensor_msgs/Joy Message)

The buttons pressed in the joystick.

Structure

└── MapMyWorld                                      # Map My World Project
    └── my_robot
        ├── CMakeLists.txt                          # compiler instructions
        ├── config                                  # config folder for configuration files 
        │   ├── base_local_planner_params.yaml
        │   ├── costmap_common_params.yaml
        │   ├── global_costmap_params.yaml
        │   ├── local_costmap_params.yaml
        │   └── __MACOSX
        ├── db                                      # db folder for rtabmap database
        │   └── rtabmap.db
        ├── launch                                  # launch folder for launch file
        │   ├── joy.launch
        │   ├── localization.launch
        │   ├── mapping.launch
        │   ├── robot_description.launch
        │   └── world.launch
        ├── meshes                                  # meshes folder for sensors
        │   └── hokuyo.dae
        ├── package.xml                             # package info
        ├── rviz
        │   └── myworld.rviz
        ├── scripts                                 # scripts folder for python nodes
        │   └── joy_teleop
        ├── urdf                                    # urdf folder for xarco files
        │   ├── my_robot.gazebo
        │   └── my_robot.xacro
        └── worlds                                  # world folder for world files
            └── myworld.world