TurtleBot 4 Simulator

The turtlebot4_simulator metapackage contains packages used to simulate the TurtleBot 4 in Ignition Gazebo.

Installation

Source code is available here.

Note

The turtlebot4_simulator metapackage can be installed on a PC running Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 with ROS 2 Galactic or Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 with ROS 2 Humble.

Dev Tools

Install useful development tools:

sudo apt install ros-dev-tools

Ignition Gazebo

Ignition Edifice must be installed:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wget
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable `lsb_release -cs` main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list'
wget http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.key -O - | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ignition-edifice
  

Ignition Fortress must be installed:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install wget
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable `lsb_release -cs` main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list'
wget http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.key -O - | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ignition-fortress
  

Debian package

To install the metapackage through apt:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-galactic-turtlebot4-simulator ros-galactic-irobot-create-nodes
  

To install the metapackage through apt:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-humble-turtlebot4-simulator
  

Source installation

To manually install this metapackage from source, clone the git repository:

cd ~/turtlebot4_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/turtlebot/turtlebot4_simulator.git -b galactic
  

Install dependencies:

cd ~/turtlebot4_ws
vcs import src < src/turtlebot4_simulator/dependencies.repos
rosdep install --from-path src -yi
  

Build the packages:

source /opt/ros/galactic/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
  

To manually install this metapackage from source, clone the git repository:

cd ~/turtlebot4_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/turtlebot/turtlebot4_simulator.git -b humble
  

Install dependencies:

cd ~/turtlebot4_ws
rosdep install --from-path src -yi
  

Build the packages:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
  

Ignition Bringup

The turtlebot4_ignition_bringup package contains launch files and configurations to launch Ignition Gazebo.

Launch files:
- Ignition: Launches Ignition Gazebo and all required nodes to run the simulation.
- ROS Ignition Bridge: Launches all of the required ros_ign_bridge nodes to bridge Ignition topics with ROS topics.
- TurtleBot 4 Nodes: Launches the turtlebot4_node and turtlebot4_ignition_hmi_node required to control the HMI plugin and robot behaviour.
Ignition launch configuration options:
- model: Which TurtleBot 4 model to use.
  - options: standard, lite
  - default: standard
- rviz: Whether to launch rviz.
  - options: true, false
  - default: false
- slam: Whether to launch SLAM.
  - options: off, sync, async
  - default: off
- nav2: Whether to launch Nav2.
  - options: true, false
  - default: false
- param_file: Path to parameter file for turtlebot4_node.
  - default: /path/to/turtlebot4_ignition_bringup/config/turtlebot4_node.yaml
- world: Which world to use for simulation.
  - default: depot
- robot_name: What to name the spawned robot.
  - default: turtlebot4
Running the simulator with default settings:
```
ros2 launch turtlebot4_ignition_bringup ignition.launch.py
```
Running synchronous SLAM with Nav2:
```
ros2 launch turtlebot4_ignition_bringup ignition.launch.py slam:=sync nav2:=true rviz:=true
```
Launch files:
- Turtlebot 4 Ignition Launch: Launches Ignition Gazebo and all required nodes to run the simulation.
- Ignition: Launches Ignition Gazebo only.
- ROS Ignition Bridge: Launches all of the required ros_ign_bridge nodes to bridge Ignition topics with ROS topics.
- TurtleBot 4 Nodes: Launches the turtlebot4_node and turtlebot4_ignition_hmi_node required to control the HMI plugin and robot behaviour.
Turtlebot 4 Ignition launch configuration options:
- model: Which TurtleBot 4 model to use
  - options: standard, lite
  - default: standard
- rviz: Whether to launch rviz
  - options: true, false
  - default: false
- localization: Whether to launch localization
  - options: true, false
  - default: false
- slam: Whether to launch SLAM
  - options: true, false
  - default: false
- nav2: Whether to launch Nav2
  - options: true, false
  - default: false
- world: Which world to use for simulation
  - options: depot, maze, warehouse
  - default: warehouse
- namespace: Optional robot namespace
  - options: Any valid ROS 2 name as a string
  - default: blank ("")
- x: x coordinate of the robot and dock spawn location in the gazebo world
  - options: float representing a valid free location in the map
  - default: 0.0
- y: y coordinate of the robot and dock spawn location in the gazebo world
  - options: float representing a valid free location in the map
  - default: 0.0
- z: z coordinate of the robot and dock spawn location in the gazebo world
  - options: float representing a valid free location in the map
  - default: 0.0
- yaw: robot and dock orientation at spawn in the gazebo world
  - options: float representing a valid free location in the map
  - default: 0.0
Running the simulator with default settings:
```
ros2 launch turtlebot4_ignition_bringup turtlebot4_ignition.launch.py
```
Running synchronous SLAM with Nav2:
```
ros2 launch turtlebot4_ignition_bringup turtlebot4_ignition.launch.py slam:=true nav2:=true rviz:=true
```

Ignition GUI Plugins

The turtlebot4_ignition_gui_plugins package contains the source code for the TurtleBot 4 HMI GUI plugin.

The TurtleBot 4 HMI GUI plugin is only used for the standard model. The lite model uses the Create® 3 HMI GUI plugin.
The TurtleBot 4 HMI GUI plugin is only used for the standard model. The lite model uses the Create® 3 HMI GUI plugin.

Ignition Toolbox

The turtlebot4_ignition_toolbox package contains the source code for the TurtleBot 4 HMI node. The TurtleBot 4 HMI node acts as a bridge between the turtlebot4_node and ros_ign_bridge to convert the custom TurtleBot 4 messages into standard messages such as Int32 and String.