Real-Time Appearance-Based Mapping

Using Gazabo, Rviz, and ROS

Setting up the enviroment:

For this project the following set up was used:

• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS OS
• Ros kinetic
• Gazebo 7.15.0
• Rviz 1.12.17

Installation steps:

• Clone this repository to your home directory:

$ git clone https://github.com/AndresGarciaEscalante/Real-Time-Appearance-Based-Mapping.git

• Make sure you have the rtabmap package installed.

• Execute the following commands to setup the environment:

$ catkin_make
$ source devel/setup.bash

• Apply the following commands using different terminals:

Terminal 1

$ source devel/setup.bash
$ roslaunch my_robot world.launch

Terminal 2

$ source devel/setup.bash
$ rosrun teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard.py

Terminal 3

$ source devel/setup.bash
$ roslaunch my_robot mapping.launch

• Now you are able to drive the car using the keyboards and visualize the creation of the 3D Mapping. The rtabmap will generate a db file after ending the simulation, this file contains all the information performed by the RTAB during simulation. This file can be visualized using the command:

$ rtabmap-databaseViewer ~/.ros/rtabmap.db

Project Description

My_robot Package

Contains the information of the gazebo world environment, robot's URDF. Additionally, it has all the launch files needed for the project.

RTAB-Map Package

RTAB-Map (Real-Time Appearance-Based Mapping) is a popular solution for SLAM to develop robots that can map environments in 3D. RTAB-Map has good speed and memory management, and it provides custom developed tools for information analysis.

For more detailed information please refere to the following link: RTAB-Map Package

ROS Teleop Package

This package provides the control of velocity and movement of the car in the Gazebo environment.

For more detailed information please refere to the following link: ROS Teleop Package

Project Outcome

Create a 2D occupancy grid and 3D octomap from a simulated environment using a robot with the RTAB-Map package.

After the simulation the db file should look as follows. This example is provided in the repository:

Important: Check full video in the following link to get a deeper understand of the project: RTAB-Map

Future Improvements

• Create a single launch file to execute the project.