ptientho / ros2-control-rb-1

install ROS2 controller toRB-1 robot

ROS2-Control for RB-1 robot

Introduction

This package contains a ROS2 robot model description for Robotnik's RB-1 mobile base with ROS2 controllers. The controllers include

• Differential Drive Controller: control the mobile base of both linear and angular movement
• Forward Command Controller: control the robot's lift up/down

Installation

Download this package "rb1_ros2_description", which inside the package, installation information can be found in CMakeLists.txt. This package requires the following dependencies.

1. ament_cmake
2. urdf
3. xacro
4. robot_state_publisher

Also, the following folders inside this package are necessary to be installed.

1. launch
2. config
3. meshes
4. urdf
5. xacro

Installation Steps

1. cd ~/ros2_ws
2. colcon build --packages-select rb1_ros2_description
3. source install/setup.bash

Get start the Simulation

Launch the following command after compiling the package.

ros2 launch rb1_ros2_description rb1_ros2_xacro.launch.py

This command will launch the mobile base in Gazebo simulation, together with the controllers mentioned above. Wait the gazebo to getup and running.

Controller Activation

Before controlling the robot in simulation, check if the controllers are up and activated by using the following command in a different shell.

ros2 control list_controllers

expected output:

forward_effort_controller[forward_command_controller/ForwardCommandController] active
joint_state_broadcaster[joint_state_broadcaster/JointStateBroadcaster] active
diffbot_base_controller[diff_drive_controller/DiffDriveController] active

Note: if not all controllers show up, use ctrl+c to shutdown the nodes and relaunch again.

Moving the robot's lifting unit

To move the robot's lifting unit, publish to the following topic.

/forward_effort_controller/commands

This topic is available when the forward_effort_controller is active. Use ros2 topic list to confirm the availability.
To publish the topic use the following command.

ros2 topic pub /forward_effort_controller/commands std_msgs/msg/Float64MultiArray data:\ [1.0]\

if the number is positive, the lift moves up. Otherwise, the lift moves down.