GSoC 2025 ROS2 Challenge Progress

Overview

This README documents my progress on the GSoC 2025 ROS challenge as of April 6, 2025. The challenge consists of three parts:

• Part 1a: ROS2 Publisher-Subscriber Demo.
• Part 1b: TurtleBot3 Simulation with Laser Scan Visualization.
• Part 2: ROS2 Navigation2 with Waypoint Navigation. Below, I detail the setup, development, successes, and challenges for each part, showcasing my work with ROS2 Humble on an Ubuntu 22.04 VM in VMware Workstation.

Environment Setup

• Platform: Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy) in VMware Workstation.
• ROS2 Version: Humble Hawksbill.
• VM Configuration: 4 GB RAM, 2 CPUs, 512 MB graphics memory, 3D acceleration enabled.

Part 1a: ROS2 Publisher-Subscriber Demo

1. Objective: Create a ROS2 package with a publisher and subscriber to demonstrate basic ROS2 communication.

2. Development: Package creation hello_ros2

3. Build and Run:

   cd ~/ros2_ws
   colcon build
   source install/setup.bash

• Terminal 1:

  ros2 run hello_ros2 publisher_node

  Output: Publishing: "Hello! ROS2 is fun." every second.
• Terminal 2:

  ros2 run hello_ros2 subscriber_node

  Output: I heard: "Hello! ROS2 is fun." in sync.

4. Watch the Demo: Video shows publisher sending messages and subscriber receiving them ROS2 Humble in Action: Publisher-Subscriber Magic Unveiled

Part 1b: TurtleBot3 Simulation with Laser Scan Visualization

1. Objective: Simulate TurtleBot3 in Gazebo and visualize its laser scan in RViz2

2. Install Dependencies:

   sudo apt install ros-humble-turtlebot3-simulations ros-humble-gazebo-ros-pkgs -y

3. Launch Attempt:

   source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
   export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger
   ros2 launch turtlebot3_gazebo turtlebot3_world.launch.py

4. RViz2 Setup:

   ros2 run rviz2 rviz2

5. Challenges:

• Gazebo Issue: gzserver starts but /spawn_entity service fails:
• Error: Service /spawn_entity unavailable. Was Gazebo started with GazeboRosFactory?
• Standalone ros2 run gazebo_ros gzserver exits with code 255.

6. Status:

• In Progress: Gazebo integration unresolved; TurtleBot3 not spawning.

Part 2: ROS2 Navigation2 with Waypoint Navigation

1. Objective: Navigate TurtleBot3 in Gazebo using Navigation2, hitting at least three waypoints.

2. Install Dependencies:

   sudo apt install ros-humble-navigation2 ros-humble-nav2-bringup -y

3. Development: Package creation waypoint_nav

4. Build and Run:

   cd ~/ros2_ws
   colcon build
   source install/setup.bash

• Terminal 1: Gazebo

  source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
  export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger
  ros2 launch turtlebot3_gazebo turtlebot3_world.launch.py

  Issue: /spawn_entity unavailable.
• Terminal 2: Navigation2

  ros2 launch turtlebot3_navigation2 navigation2.launch.py use_sim_time:=True

  Issue: KeyError: 'TURTLEBOT3_MODEL'.
• Terminal 3: Waypoint Navigator

  ros2 run waypoint_nav waypoint_navigator

  Output: Sending waypoint 1: (1.0, 0.0, 0.0) (hangs without Navigation2).

5. Challenges:

• Gazebo: Same /spawn_entity issue as Part 1b.
• Navigation2: Missing environment variable fixed by adding export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger.

6. Status:

• Success: waypoint_nav package built and runs.
• In Progress: Gazebo and Navigation2 integration pending.

Author

Mohamed ABABSA - GSoC 2025 Applicant

License

JdeRobot-ROS2 is licensed under the MIT License