Kobuki PlayGround

easynav_playground_kobuki is EasyNav’s indoor reference: a Turtlebot2 (Kobuki) with a 2D lidar in the AWS RoboMaker small house, with costmap and simple map configurations.

See PlayGrounds to install it.

Launching EasyNav

Each easynav_<config>.launch.yaml starts Gazebo, the Kobuki, EasyNav with that configuration and RViz2:

ros2 launch easynav_playground_kobuki easynav_costmap_rpp.launch.yaml

Once RViz2 is up, send a goal with the 2D Goal Pose tool.

Costmap configurations

All of them use the maps/home2.yaml occupancy map, the Costmap maps manager, AMCL over the costmap and A* (CostmapPlanner). easynav_costmap_rpp is the recommended one.

Launch file	Controller	Localizer	Notes
`easynav_costmap_rpp.launch.yaml`	Regulated Pure Pursuit	AMCL	Tuned for the Kobuki
`easynav_costmap_rpp_mhamcl.launch.yaml`	Regulated Pure Pursuit	Multi-hypothesis AMCL	See Global Localization and Kidnapping Recovery with MH-AMCL
`easynav_costmap_rpp_reflex.launch.yaml`	Regulated Pure Pursuit	AMCL	For trying the collision safety reflex by hand
`easynav_costmap_rpp_safe.launch.yaml`	Regulated Pure Pursuit	AMCL	Safety mode, see below
`easynav_costmap_serest.launch.yaml`	SeReST	AMCL
`easynav_costmap_mppi.launch.yaml`	MPPI	AMCL
`easynav_costmap_mpc.launch.yaml`	MPC	AMCL
`easynav_routes.launch.yaml`	Regulated Pure Pursuit	AMCL	Routes from `maps/routes_1.yaml`, see Using the Routes Maps Manager with Costmaps
`easynav_costmap_mppi_routed.launch.yaml`	MPPI	AMCL	Routes from `maps/routes_1.yaml`
`easynav_costmap_mapping.launch.yaml`	—	—	Only the Costmap maps manager, see Mapping with the Costmap Stack

Simple map configurations

They use the maps/home.map binary map and the Simple plugins (maps manager, AMCL localizer and A* planner). The Simple stack is a minimal example, not meant for real use.

Launch file	Controller	Notes
`easynav_simple.launch.yaml`	Simple	Used in Getting Started
`easynav_simple_serest.launch.yaml`	SeReST
`easynav_simple_mapping.launch.yaml`	—	Only the Simple maps manager, see Mapping with SLAM Toolbox and EasyNav

Launch arguments

Argument	Default	Description
`params_file`	Per launch file	EasyNav parameter file
`rviz_config`	Per launch file	RViz2 configuration file
`gui`	`true`	`false` runs Gazebo headless
`rviz`	`true`	`false` skips RViz2
`lidar_range`	`3.0`	Maximum lidar range, in meters
`camera`	`false`	Enables the RGBD camera

For example, headless with your own parameters:

ros2 launch easynav_playground_kobuki easynav_costmap_rpp.launch.yaml \
  gui:=false params_file:=/path/to/my.params.yaml

Safety mode

easynav_costmap_rpp_safe.launch.yaml runs EasyNav in safety mode (see Safety parameters and safety mode) with the process memory locked. It needs the real-time limits of Real-time System Setup (rtprio >= 80 and memlock unlimited); otherwise EasyNav does not start.

It also publishes an “all clear” safety status on /easynav_safety_status, standing in for a safety PLC or scanner (see Safety channel status). Launch it with safety_channel:=false to publish your own status, for example a protective stop.

Multirobot

Two Kobukis, r1 at (0, 0) and r2 at (2, 1), each with its own EasyNav and RViz2:

ros2 launch easynav_playground_kobuki easynav_multirobot.launch.yaml

Each robot uses its own namespace for topics (/r1/scan_raw), its own TF topic (/r1/tf) and prefixed frames (r1/map, r1/base_link). The parameters are in params/costmap_multirobot.params.yaml, with one section per robot. See Multi-Robot Navigation with EasyNav.

Simulation only

To run Gazebo and the Kobuki without EasyNav or RViz2:

ros2 launch easynav_playground_kobuki_worlds gazebo_sim.launch.yaml

or, with two robots, multirobot_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml. To add a robot to a running simulation, use kobuki.launch.yaml with a namespace and a spawn pose (x, y, Y…).

The simulated Kobuki publishes /scan_raw (sensor_msgs/LaserScan), /odom, /joint_states and TF, and listens on /cmd_vel. With camera:=true it also publishes /rgbd_camera/{image,depth_image,points,camera_info}.

Launch files

The launch files (in launch/, in YAML) build on each other:

easynav_<config>.launch.yaml            # sets params_file and rviz_config
└── easynav_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml      # + EasyNav + RViz2
    └── gazebo_sim.launch.yaml          # Gazebo + one Kobuki
        ├── world.launch.yaml
        └── kobuki.launch.yaml

easynav_multirobot.launch.yaml          # + two EasyNav + two RViz2
└── multirobot_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml   # Gazebo + two Kobukis
    ├── world.launch.yaml
    └── kobuki.launch.yaml (x2)

What each one starts:

world.launch.yaml: The Gazebo server with the small house world (gz sim -r -s), the Gazebo GUI client (if gui), and a bridge for /clock. Gazebo is started without a shell, so Ctrl+C stops it and no server or GUI is left behind.
kobuki.launch.yaml: One Kobuki: robot_state_publisher with the robot model (lidar, optional RGBD camera), the spawner (ros_gz_sim create), and the ROS–Gazebo bridge for its topics (cmd_vel, scan_raw, odom, joint_states, tf; and the camera’s, with camera:=true). With namespace, everything goes in that namespace, with its own TF topics and prefixed frames.
gazebo_sim.launch.yaml: world.launch.yaml and one kobuki.launch.yaml: the simulation, without EasyNav.
multirobot_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml: world.launch.yaml and two Kobukis: kobuki_1 in namespace r1 at (0, 0) and kobuki_2 in r2 at (2, 1).
easynav_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml: gazebo_sim.launch.yaml, then, after 5 s, EasyNav (easynav_system system_main) with params_file, and RViz2 with rviz_config (if rviz). If EasyNav exits, the whole launch ends.
easynav_<config>.launch.yaml: easynav_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml with the parameter file and RViz2 configuration of that configuration (table below). easynav_costmap_rpp_safe also publishes the “all clear” safety status (ros2 topic pub on /easynav_safety_status, if safety_channel).
easynav_multirobot.launch.yaml: multirobot_gazebo_sim.launch.yaml, then an EasyNav and an RViz2 per robot, in its namespace and with its TF topics, all with params/costmap_multirobot.params.yaml.

Launch file	Parameter file (`params/`)	RViz2 configuration (`rviz/`)
`easynav_costmap_rpp`	`costmap.rpp.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_rpp_mhamcl`	`costmap.rpp.mhamcl.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_rpp_reflex`	`costmap.rpp.reflex.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_rpp_safe`	`costmap.rpp.safe.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_serest`	`costmap.serest.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_mppi`	`costmap.mppi.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_mpc`	`costmap.mpc.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_routes`	`costmap.rpp.routed.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap_routed.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_mppi_routed`	`costmap.mppi.routed.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap_routed.rviz`
`easynav_costmap_mapping`	`costmap.mapping.params.yaml`	`easynav_costmap.rviz`
`easynav_simple`	`simple.params.yaml`	`easynav_simple.rviz`
`easynav_simple_serest`	`simple.serest.params.yaml`	`easynav_simple.rviz`
`easynav_simple_mapping`	`simple.mapping.params.yaml`	`easynav_simple.rviz`
`easynav_multirobot`	`costmap_multirobot.params.yaml`	`easynav_multirobot.rviz`

Package layout

Directory	Contents
`launch/`	Launch files, in YAML
`params/`	EasyNav parameters, one file per configuration
`maps/`	`home2.yaml` (costmap), `home.map` (simple map) and `routes_1.yaml` (routes)
`rviz/`	RViz2 configurations
`config/bridge/`	ROS–Gazebo bridge topics
`urdf/`, `meshes/`	Kobuki model
`worlds/`, `models/`, `photos/`	Small house world