makarandmandolkar / turtlebot3_from_scratch

Turtlebot3 with EKF SLAM and Inverse Kinematics from Scratch

ROS Navigation Stack

Please visit my website for the theory behind this project

Project Overview

This totally-from-scratch project involved modeling a Turtlebot3 in Gazebo and using Differential Drive Kinematics to perform Odometry calculations. The Gazebo Plugin was developed to emulate the low-level interface on the real Turtlebot3 for the ability to develop high-fidelity code in simulation. I also implemented landmark detection on the Turtlebot3's LIDAR, and used these features to perform EKF SLAM with Unknown Data Association.

The core project components are:

• rigid2d: library containing 2D Lie Group operations for Transforms, Vectors and Twists as well as differential drive robot kinematics for odometry updates.
• nuturtle_description: houses the description of a differential drive robot with a caster wheel for support.
• nuturtle_robot: interfaces with the real Turtlebot3's low-level controls such as setting wheel speeds and reading sensors.
• nuturtle_gazebo: contains a Gazebo Plugin to emulate the Turtlebot3's low-level controls in Gazebo for the ability to develop in simulation.
• nuslam: library containing LIDAR feature detection methods and EKF SLAM implementation with Unknown Data Association.

Please navigate to the respective directories for a detailed description of each component.

Quickstart Guide

Use the nuturtle.rosinstall file to get all the necessary files and packages. This will download some custom Gazebo worlds as well as my rigid2d and ekf libraries.

You should consult the Documentation for details on how to use the classes and methods in this navigation stack.