MentorPi Ackermann Robot Simulator & RViz Joint Visualizer (ROS 2)

Overview

A simple ROS 2 package for simulating an Ackermann-steered robot in Gazebo and visualizing its joints in RViz.
Note: We currently use a Diff Drive plugin with a converter due to limited Ackermann support in ROS 2’s Gazebo transport layer.

Installation

1. Clone this repo into your ROS 2 workspace (e.g., ~/ros2_ws/src).

   cd ~/ros2_ws/src
   git clone https://github.com/ViktorNfa/mentorpia1_simulator

2. Build the workspace

   cd ~/ros2_ws
   colcon build

3. Source the setup file:

   source ~/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash

Usage

1. Launch the Simulation

   ros2 launch mentorpia1_simulator mentorpia1_simulator.launch.py

   This starts Gazebo with the robot model and the Diff Drive converter. You can publish Ackermann steering commands as:

   ros2 topic pub /cmd_ackermann ackermann_msgs/msg/AckermannDrive "{steering_angle: 0.3, speed: 1.0}"

2. Launch RViz

   ros2 launch mentorpia1_simulator rviz.launch.py

   This opens RViz, displaying the robot model and its joints.

Troubleshooting

Ackermann steering is not supported by the current Gazebo transport layer in ROS 2. We are using a Diff Drive plugin with a converter. Future versions will restore true Ackermann steering since an Ackermann plugin is already defined in the SDF.

Contributing

Feel free to fork, develop, and submit a Pull Request for any improvements.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.