GPS-waypoint-based-Autonomous-Navigation-in-ROS

GPS points will be predefined for the robot to navigate to the destination avoiding obstacles.

This repo package was tested on a Custom Rover with Razor 9DOF IMU, ZED F9P (RTK2) GPS, and RPLidar A1 lidar. The base station laptop is running Ubuntu 16.04 and the rover is running Ubuntu 16.04 on an Nvidia Jetson TX2.

Run the package

In your terminal, navigate to your catkin_ws's source (src) directory & run:

cd catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/ArghyaChatterjee/gps-waypoint-based-autonomous-navigation-in-ros.git
cd ..
catkin_make

In that terminal, launch the navigation file:

source devel/setup.bash
roslaunch gps_waypoint_nav gps_waypoint_nav.launch

In another terminal, launch the joystick controller file:

source devel/setup.bash
roslaunch gps_waypoint_nav joy_launch_control.launch

Run the rover with the joystick. During the run, press "LB" to start collecting waypoints. The waypoints will be saved inside 'points_outdoor.txt'. When the run is finished, press "RB" to start following waypoints.

User Interface Demo

We have used mapviz package to visualize the path and the cordinates.

Binary Install:

sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-mapviz \
                       ros-kinetic-mapviz-plugins \
                       ros-kinetic-tile-map \
                       ros-kinetic-multires-image

Source Install:

cd catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/swri-robotics/mapviz.git
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src
catkin_make

Package Description

This package uses a combination of the following packages:

ekf_localization to fuse odometry data with IMU and GPS data.
navsat_transform to convert GPS data to odometry and to convert latitude and longitude points to the robot's odometry coordinate system.
GMapping to create a map and detect obstacles.
move_base to navigate to the goals while avoiding obstacles
goals are set using recorded or inputted waypoints.

Node Description

The Navigation package within this repo includes the following custom nodes:

gps_waypoint to read the waypoint file, convert waypoints to points in the map frame and then send the goals to move_base.
gps_waypoint_continuous1 for continuous navigation between waypoints using one controller.
gps_waypoint_continuous2 for continuous navigation between waypoints using another seperate controller.
collect_gps_waypoint to allow the user to drive the robot around and collect their own waypoints.
calibrate_heading to set the heading of the robot at startup and fix issues with poor magnetometer data.
plot_gps_waypoints to save raw data from the GPS for plotting purposes.
gps_waypoint_mapping to combine waypoint navigation with Mandala Robotics' 3D mapping software for 3D mapping.

Gratitude