Project: ROS Maze
Use ROS to design a simuated robot that runs a maze

Background

Working in a team of 3 students, we will write ROS code to drive the robot through a maze. You will do it first in simulation [STDR] (http://wiki.ros.org/stdr_simulator) and then with the TB3. We will not use SLAM as a way to really get familiar with the lower level issues.

Reference
Notes

You will not be using SLAM for this project. Instead you will use the Lidar to return to you distances to the next obstacle at different bearings. That way you can sense walls left, right and in front of you.

Notice that you will be writing and testing this algorithm in simulation mode. The simulator which you will use is called STDR. That stands for Simple Two Dimensional Robots. You will be designing and testing your algorithm totally in simulation.

Once you have the algorithm working, we will go to the next big step which is to actually run in the TB3!

As you write code, please try to think about good programming habits and designs. Your code may start as a bunch of spaghetti but by the time you hand it in we are expecting something with reasonable modularity, abstractions, single responsibility principle etc.

Learning Objectives

  • Demonstrate ability to write a multi node ROS app
  • Learn how sensors work, especially the LIDAR
  • Learn how to leverage the simulators for testing and development in ROS
  • Research how to use raw LIDAR data to orient the robot in a maze
  • Learn how to actually deploy code to an TB3 and test it

Steps

  1. Make sure you’ve read or looked at Chapters 1-7 of the book, or gotten the same background through your means
  2. Study Lessons 1-4 of Udacity AI for Robotics Course article. Studying means actually doing the exercises and quizzes. Lessons 1 and 2 will give you a great intuitive and conceptual understanding of localization. Chapter 4 will teach you about Kalman filters. This is worth your time, you will learn a lot!
  3. Set up and play with STDR
  4. Make/download a graph of a simple maze and upload it to STDR (see stdr guide below)
  5. Write the initial code (using Python) to start listening to the messages that the similator robot sensors are publishing.
  6. Figure out how to use that data (which is 360 degrees of distance data) to determine what the walls are the robot is confronting
  7. Use what you learned in the previous Maze assignent to implement a similar or identical algorithm, this time using LIDAR data
  8. Implement the complete Maze Solver and demonstrate it working in the simulator
  9. Learn how to deploy your code to a real TB3 and experiment a little
  10. Adapt your code (if necessary) to work as well in the live robot
  11. Demonstrate!

ROS-MAZE Challenge

  • This challenge is designed for getting known of ROS and utilizing data from sensors.
  • Implement an algorithm that will solve the maze bellow. Your code should be able to run on both the Turtlebot3 and simulators (gazebo, stdr…).
  • The team takes the least time to solve this maze in the physical world will win.
  • This maze will built in the lab, you should test your algorithm there a lot.

  • All walls will be built by blocks which you used in mbot maze.

  • General guide:
    • Draw this map and test your code in STDR first.
    • Test well in simulator first and then deploy your code to the physical robot.
    • There is no guarantee that your code will automatically work in the real world, if your code works well in the simulator. But you will get a sense of if your algorithm and logic are right.
    • The simulated robot will behave a lot differently than the physical one. Take that into account.