Gazebo Simulations

The following Repo contains Gazebo Simulations of IITB Mars Rover Team.

Instructions for ROS and Gazebo installations

1. ROS kinetic and Gazebo-7 is used.
2. Follow instructions on https://wiki.ros.org/kinetic/Installation/Ubuntu
3. Opt for ros-kinetic-desktop-full installation

Building the catkin-packages

1. Follow the steps to build the provided packages

 mkdir -p rover_ws/src
 cd rover_ws/src
 git clone https://github.com/iitbmartian/Gazebo_simulation.git
 cd ..
 catkin_make

2. Replace line 15 and line 29 of rover_18/gazebo_worlds/terrain.world with <mesh><uri>PATH_TO_YOUR_WORKSPACE/rover_ws/src/rover_18/gazebo_worlds/terrain_surface/surface1.stl</uri></mesh>.
3. Replace line 33 of rover_18/gazebo_worlds/terrain.world with <uri>PATH_TO_YOUR_WORKSPACE/rover_ws/src/rover_18/gazebo_materials/scripts/terrain.material</uri>.

Visualisation of Rover on RViz

• Execute roslaunch rover18_urdf rviz.launch

Gazebo Simulation

1. To load the rover in a defined world execute roslaunch rover18_urdf gazebo.launch
2. For Simulating differential-drive in the world execute roslaunch rover18_urdf diff_drive.launch. Control the speed and direction of rover using rqt_robot_steering node launched.
3. The forces in links can be viewed on gz topic.
4. For changing the worlds edit the world names in rover_18/launch/gazebo.launch line 18

Example Video

Take a look at some simulations in https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oUSBbVFecmz7PkJIKtDzw7NwfP6030fT?usp=sharing

Additional Softwares used

1. Blander Sculpt tool - To create the Custom terrain
2. [3DView](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/3dview/hhngciknjebkeffhafnaodkfidcdlcao?hl=en) - To edit stl meshes and evaluate translation and rotation coordinates of joints/links.

Packages used

1. [gazebo_ros_control](http://gazebosim.org/tutorials?tut=ros_control) to implement differential control on the rover
2. [rqt_robot_steering](http://wiki.ros.org/rqt_robot_steering) for UI to control rover movement
3. [force_torque_sensor](http://gazebosim.org/tutorials?tut=force_torque_sensor&cat=sensors) to get the forces in joints