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Welcome to the SLAM wiki.

The information here is intended to help you get started with our project(s). More in-depth documentation can be found at utra-art.github.io/SLAM/.

Getting Started with ROS

Our robot code is developed using the Robot Operating System (ROS). if you are unfamiliar with ROS and/or require help setting it up, we have some tutorials below:

Disclaimer: These tutorials heavily borrow from the official ROS Wiki.

1. Setting Up Your Operating System:
   How to dual-boot Ubuntu with Windows or macOS.

2. Installing and Configuring Your ROS Environment:
   How to install ROS and configure the ROS environment for development.

3. Creating and Building a ROS Package:
   How to create a ROS package using catkin_create_pkg and build it using catkin_make.

4. Understanding ROS Architecture:
   How the ROS architecture works.

Getting Started with SLAM and Navigation

Our sub-team actually handles two logistical components of our robot(s): SLAM, and Navigation

• Simulatenous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) refers to constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of the robot's location within it.

• Navigation refers to planning a path to take to reach a destination, given a map, and the robot's current location.

If you are unfamiliar with SLAM and/or navigation, we have some tutorials that give a brief overview below:

1. What is SLAM?:
   An overview of the SLAM problem.

2. What is Navigation?
   An overview of the navigation problem.

Note: If you are interested in learning SLAM and/or navigation theory on a deeper level, you can find our detailed notes here. However, this knowledge is not required to continue.

SLAM and Navigation on ROS

General ROS and Technical Help

• What is Odometry?:
  An overview of the odometry process.
• Odometry in ROS:
  How to perform odometry in ROS.

On Simulation

Tutorials specific to simulation can be found below:

• Modelling the Robot:
  A basic overview of how to model a robot for simulation.

On Robot

Tutorials specific to the actual robot can be found below:

Using our Packages

There are several pre-existing SLAM and navigation ROS packages, thus we cannot provide a generic overview here. However, we have provided details on the packages we use below:

• Navigation is done using the navigation package (see using navigation)
• SLAM is done using the rtabmap_ros package (see using rtabmap)

Additional Resources

• Husky Navigation Stack
• Sending Goals to move_base
• AMCL against a static map
• Information about caffeine_description
• sensor-drivers-list