mapping

This project creates a 2D occupancy grid and 3D octomap from a simulated environment using the ROS RTAB-Map package. RTAB-Map (Real-Time Appearance-Based Mapping) is a popular solution for SLAM to develop robots that can map environments in 3D.

The ROS RTAB-Map package is a ROS wrapper (API) for interacting with RTAB-Map. The robot configuration in this project includes a 2D laser, odometry sensors, and a 3D Kinect camera. The ROS teleop package is also included which allows the user to navigate the robot in the environment and perform RTAB-Mapping. Localization using RTAB-Map is also performed.

Screenshots

Comparison between the Gazebo world simulation (top) and the generated 3D map (bottom): Direct comparison between the simulation and generated map:

Building

Prerequisites/Dependencies: Gazebo and ROS.

With the prerequisites met, source global ros:

$ source /opt/ros/<your_ros_version>/setup.bash

Create a catkin workspace:

$ mkdir -p catkin_ws/src && cd catkin_ws

Clone the driver:

$ git clone https://github.com/barrymulvey/mapping.git src/mapping

Install dependencies:

$ sudo apt update -qq
$ rosdep update
$ rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -y

Build the workspace:

$ catkin_make

Activate the workspace:

$ source devel/setup.bash

Launching

Launch the Gazebo world and RViz, spawn the robot in the environment:

$ roslaunch my_robot world.launch

Open a new terminal and launch the teleop node:

$ cd catkin_ws
$ source devel/setup.bash
$ rosrun teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard.py

Open another terminal and launch the mapping node:

$ cd catkin_ws
$ source devel/setup.bash
$ roslaunch my_robot mapping.launch

Database Viewer

The rtabmap-databaseViewer tool can be used to explore the database after it has been generated. It is isolated from ROS and allows for complete analysis of the mapping session. Open a new terminal and run the following:

$ rtabmap-databaseViewer ~/.ros/rtabmap.db

Click "yes" when prompted about using the database parameters, and add different views (e.g. Constraints View, Graph View) to get a better view of the relevant information.