Epuck Enigma

This is a dynamic simulation environment built with ROS 2 foxy and Gazebo 11.14.0 on Ubuntu 20.04. This project allows for the creation and spawning of random mazes and objects, providing a versatile platform for testing and development. It also enables adding Epucks to interact with the created worlds.

Structure:

• workspace: project_ws,
• package: my_simulation,
• worlds:
  • room.world: world with a simple rectangular room,
  • maze.world: world with a fixed maze,
  • maze_gen.world: world with a random maze,
• launch files:
  • objects.launch.py: launches a random number of random static objects in room.world,
  • epuck_objects.launch.py: the same as previous but also launches an Epuck in the world,
  • epuck_objects_bezier.launch.py: the same as previous but also launches randomly shaped movable objects,
  • epuck_bezier.launch.py: launches an Epuck along with a randomly shaped movable object,
  • epuck_maze.launch.py: launches an Epuck in maze_gen.world,
  • epuck_maze_objects.launch.py: launches an Epuck in maze.world along with some movable objects,
  • epuck.launch.py: launches an Epuck in room.world,
• scripts folder: different scripts used by the launch files and
  • epuck_teleop_key.py: used to move an Epuck when you have only one Epuck,
  • epuck_teleop_key_two.py: used to move an Epuck when you have two Epucks,
  • epuck_controller.py: used to move an Epuck in room.world from the spawn location to a pre-set location,
  • epuck_maze_controller.py: used to navigate an Epuck trough a maze in maze_gen.world from the spawn location to a pre-set location,
• models forlder: .sdf and .urdf files for the objects and the Epuck,
• meshes folder: meshes used to create the objects and the Epuck.

Instructions to run on Ubuntu 20.04:

1. Make sure you have installed the right versions of Gazebo and ROS 2.
2. Open the terminal and navigate to the location where you want the cloned repository. Then copy the HTTPS link for this repository and run git clone HTTPS_LINK.
3. Open project_ws in the terminal.
4. Run:

   • colcon build
     

   • source install/setup.bash
     

   • export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=/.../project_ws/src/my_simulation/my_simulation/models:$GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH
     

     where you replace ... with the location of project_ws on your computer.
   • Depending on what simulation you want to run, choose the appropriate launch file.

     ros2 launch my_simulation CHOSEN_LAUNCH_FILE
     

5. The simulation should start.
6. If you want to move your Epuck open project_ws in a new terminal while the simulation is running. Then choose one of the mentioned files in the scripts folder and run the following lines.

   • source install/setup.bash
     

   • ros2 run my_simulation CHOSEN_PYTHON_FILE (without .py)
     

   Now you should be able to move the Epuck and interact with the world.