AuToGo_robot_sim

A multi-functional mobile robot simulation platform based on ROS1 Noetic and Gazebo 11.

This repository provides a practical environment for robotics research and prototyping, covering SLAM, EKF-based localization, navigation, and Fast-LIO point-cloud mapping. It also integrates Livox Mid-360 simulation support for multi-scene localization and navigation experiments.

Overview

AuToGo_robot_sim is intended as a reusable simulation baseline for:

• robotics learning and experimentation
• SLAM and navigation prototyping
• sensor integration testing
• validating algorithms before deployment on real robots

The current public scope focuses on:

• multi-scene Gazebo simulation
• 2D and 3D sensor simulation
• EKF localization
• 2D SLAM with GMapping
• autonomous navigation with the ROS Navigation Stack
• Fast-LIO experiments with Livox Mid-360

Features

Simulation worlds

• scout_mini_empty_world.launch: empty scene with sensors
• scout_mini_playpen.launch: playpen test scene tuned for the Livox / Fast-LIO profile
• scout_mini_house.launch: house scene with sensors
• scout_empty_world.launch: empty world without sensors

Sensor simulation

• 2D LiDAR
• 3D LiDAR: VLP-16, HDL-32E, Mid-360
• IMU
• GPS
• RGB camera
• depth camera

Supported workflows

• EKF-based localization
• 2D SLAM with GMapping
• autonomous navigation with the ROS Navigation Stack
• Fast-LIO mapping with Livox Mid-360

System Requirements

• Ubuntu 20.04
• ROS Noetic
• Gazebo 11

Main dependencies include:

• slam_gmapping
• navigation
• robot_localization
• tf2_sensor_msgs

Additional ROS dependencies can be installed with rosdep.

Installation

Simulation workspace

mkdir -p ~/autogo_ws/src && cd ~/autogo_ws/src

git clone https://github.com/DWDROME/AuToGo_robot_sim.git
git clone https://github.com/DWDROME/Mid360_simulation_plugin.git

chmod +x AuToGo_robot_sim/install_packages.sh
./AuToGo_robot_sim/install_packages.sh

cd ~/autogo_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

sudo apt install -y python3-catkin-tools
catkin build

source devel/setup.bash

Fast-LIO workspace

It is recommended to keep Fast-LIO in a separate workspace:

mkdir -p ~/fastlio_ws/src && cd ~/fastlio_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/hku-mars/FAST_LIO.git
git clone https://github.com/Livox-SDK/livox_ros_driver2.git
cd ..
catkin_make

Fast-LIO depends on livox_ros_driver by default, so this setup uses livox_ros_driver2 instead. See doc/fastlio.md for notes about topics and integration details.

Launch Gazebo Simulation

The repository currently provides three sensor-enabled worlds and one empty world:

roslaunch scout_gazebo_sim scout_mini_empty_world.launch
roslaunch scout_gazebo_sim scout_mini_playpen.launch
roslaunch scout_gazebo_sim scout_mini_house.launch
roslaunch scout_gazebo_sim scout_empty_world.launch

Run the Algorithms

Fast-LIO simulation

roslaunch scout_gazebo_sim scout_mini_playpen.launch
roslaunch fast_lio mapping_mid360.launch

Default topics:

• IMU topic: /imu
• point cloud topic: /livox/lidar

Small local adjustments may be needed for topic names, TF settings, and sensor frequency. See doc/fastlio.md for details.

2D SLAM and navigation

roslaunch scout_gazebo_sim scout_mini_house.launch
roslaunch scout_filter ekf_filter_cmd.launch
roslaunch scout_slam scout_slam.launch
roslaunch scout_navigation scout_navigation.launch

Then use 2D Nav Goal in RViz to send the navigation target.

Use scout_mini_house.launch or scout_mini_empty_world.launch for 2D SLAM workflows. The scout_mini_playpen.launch profile disables the 2D Hokuyo LiDAR and enables Livox for Fast-LIO experiments.

For mapping notes, see doc/gmapping.md.

Repository Layout

The main project layout is:

• scout_gazebo_sim/: Gazebo worlds, models, robot assets, and sensor plugins
• scout_bringup/scout_filter/: EKF fusion configuration
• scout_bringup/scout_slam/: 2D SLAM launch files and saved maps
• scout_bringup/scout_navigation/: navigation launch files
• scout_bringup/scout_teleop/: teleoperation utilities
• doc/: project notes, screenshots, and workflow documents

Documentation

Detailed project notes are currently stored in:

• doc/simulation.md
• doc/sensors.md
• doc/fastlio.md
• doc/gmapping.md

doc/navigation.md is still incomplete and will be expanded in a future update.

Roadmap

Planned maintenance work includes:

• improve English documentation coverage
• make Fast-LIO setup more reproducible
• expand navigation workflow documentation
• prepare a cleaner baseline for future open-source navigation library work

Known Limitations

• The project currently targets ROS1 Noetic on Ubuntu 20.04.
• Some detailed workflow documents remain in Chinese.
• Fast-LIO setup may require environment-specific topic and TF adjustments.
• Navigation documentation is not yet complete.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome.

If you report a bug, please include:

• your environment
• the launch file you used
• the exact command you ran
• logs, screenshots, or topic information when possible

For contribution expectations, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Security

If you discover a security-sensitive issue, please follow SECURITY.md instead of posting full details publicly.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Citation

If you use AuToGo_robot_sim in your research, please cite it as:

@misc{Chen2025_AuToGoRobotSim,
  author       = {Ziyang Chen},
  title        = {AuToGo_robot_sim: A Multi-Functional Mobile Robot Simulation Platform for ROS1 Noetic and Gazebo},
  year         = {2025},
  publisher    = {GitHub},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/DWDROME/AuToGo_robot_sim}},
  note         = {Open-source simulation platform with SLAM, EKF, Navigation, and Fast-LIO support}
}