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GUI python interfaces over ROS2

Small ROS 2 Python package providing simple GUIs and demo nodes to interact with TurtleBot3 simulation and Navigation2 (Nav2).

  • PyQt5 GUIs to launch Gazebo, start/stop demo motion nodes, and interact with Nav2 waypoints.
  • Lightweight demo nodes that publish geometry_msgs/Twist on /cmd_vel for simple motions.

Features

  • Start/stop Gazebo (TurtleBot3 worlds) from a GUI.
  • Run simple motion demos: circle, forward/backward, and square path.
  • Launch Nav2 with TurtleBot3 in Gazebo and follow saved AMCL waypoints.

Key sources:

  • gui_interface/gui_tb3.py:1 — GUI to launch Gazebo and motion nodes.
  • gui_interface/gui_nav2.py:1 — GUI to launch TB3+Nav2, save current AMCL pose, and follow waypoints.
  • gui_interface/circle_motion.py:1 — Circular motion publisher on /cmd_vel.
  • gui_interface/forward_backward.py:1 — Alternates forward/backward on /cmd_vel.
  • gui_interface/square_path.py:1 — Drives a square on /cmd_vel.

Prerequisites

  • ROS 2 with Nav2 (e.g., Humble or newer) and TurtleBot3 packages.
  • Python 3 with PyQt5.
  • Gazebo/Ignition and TurtleBot3 Gazebo worlds.

Suggested installs (adapt for your distro):

sudo apt install \
  ros-$ROS_DISTRO-turtlebot3-gazebo \
  ros-$ROS_DISTRO-turtlebot3-navigation2 \
  ros-$ROS_DISTRO-nav2-simple-commander \
  python3-pyqt5

Environment setup commonly needed by TurtleBot3:

export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger   # or waffle, waffle_pi

Build & Install

Place this package in a ROS 2 workspace and build with colcon.

# From your workspace root (e.g., ~/ros2_ws)
colcon build --packages-select gui_interface
source install/setup.bash

How to Run

You can run the GUIs directly with Python or as a module. The demo motion nodes are exposed as ROS 2 executables via console_scripts.

TB3 Demo GUI

Launch Gazebo and control demo motion nodes (/cmd_vel).

python3 src/gui_interface/gui_interface/gui_tb3.py

GUI buttons:

  • Launch Gazebo (TB3 Empty World): starts turtlebot3_gazebo empty_world.launch.py.
  • Start: circle_motion | forward_backward | square_path: runs the corresponding node.
  • Close All Nodes: stops all motion nodes.
  • Stop All (Nodes + Gazebo): stops nodes and cleans up Gazebo processes.

Nav2 Waypoints GUI

Launch TB3 simulation + Nav2, save AMCL poses, and follow them as waypoints.

python3 src/gui_interface/gui_interface/gui_nav2.py

Workflow:

  • Launch TB3 Sim + Nav2: starts turtlebot3_gazebo turtlebot3_world.launch.py and turtlebot3_navigation2 navigation2.launch.py.
  • Save Pose: stores the current AMCL pose (topic /amcl_pose).
  • Go To Saved Poses: waits for Nav2 to activate, then follows saved poses via nav2_simple_commander.BasicNavigator.
  • Stop All: stops launched processes.

Demo Nodes (CLI)

These publish geometry_msgs/Twist to /cmd_vel:

ros2 run gui_interface circle_motion
ros2 run gui_interface forward_backward
ros2 run gui_interface square_path

Notes & Troubleshooting

  • Always source install/setup.bash for your current terminal before running.
  • Ensure TurtleBot3 model is set: export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger.
  • Gazebo leftovers: the GUIs try to clean up, but you can also manually run pkill -f gzserver or pkill -f gazebo if needed.
  • Nav2 activation: the waypoint action waits for Nav2 to become active; initial map load and AMCL convergence can take a moment.
  • Dependencies are used at runtime (PyQt5, TurtleBot3 stacks, Nav2 Simple Commander) and may need to be installed separately on your system.