robot_simple ROS 2 Project

Simple Robot Simulator ROS2

This project simulates a robot moving in a 2D space using ROS 2. It consists of two main nodes:

• Robot Node: Handles the robot's movement, position, and kinematics in the simulated environment.
• Battery Node: Simulates the robot's battery, including energy consumption, charging, and status reporting.

Techniques Used

• ROS 2 Components: Both nodes are implemented as composable components for modularity.
• Action Servers/Clients: Used for long-running tasks such as moving to a target position and charging the battery. For the battery while chargin the server check constantly the position of the robot if it is in the charging base
• Service Servers/Clients: For checking and requesting energy from the battery node.
• Parameter Event Handlers: Dynamic parameter updates (e.g., robot base position, physical parameters) at runtime.
• TF2: For managing and broadcasting coordinate transforms between the robot and world frames.
• Timers: Periodic publishing of robot and battery status.

Running with Docker

This project uses ROS 2 Jazzy and can be run in a Docker container for easy setup.

Build the Docker image

docker build -t robot_simple:v01 .

Run the Docker container with two terminals

Open two terminals and run the following:

Terminal 1: Start Node and See ROS 2 logs (rclcpp logger output)

docker run --rm -it --tag robot_simple robot_simple:v01

Terminal 2: Move the robot (send actions)

In a second terminal, attach to the running container and use send ROS2 CLI commands.

First attach to the container a new terminal:

docker exec -it robot_simple bash

Once inside the container, initalize the bash:

source ./install/setup.bash

you can move the robot using:

ros2 action send_goal /move_to_target robot_interfaces/action/MoveToTarget "{target_position_x: 20.0, target_position_y: 0.0}"

• Terminal 1 is for monitoring the ROS 2 logger output in real time (using ros2 log echo).
• Terminal 2 is for sending actions to move the robot.

You can open more terminals with docker exec -it robot_simple bash to interact with the running container.

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Notes

• Make sure your host user has permission to access Docker.
• The --network host option is used for ROS 2 discovery. If you are on Mac/Windows, you may need to adjust networking.
• The workspace is mounted with -v $(pwd)/src:/workspace/src for live code editing.

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License

MIT License

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Author

Michele Di Lecce
michele.dilecce@hotmail.com