tutorials ExampleVrx

VRX Example

This example illustrates a specific configuration similar to what some of the RobotX teams used in 2018. It includes:

• Fixed stern thrusters and a single lateral thuster - the 'T' propulsion configuration
• A standard set of onboard sensors
  • Two forward facing cameras (stereo)
  • One starboard facing camera
  • GPS
  • IMU
  • 3D LiDAR

Simulation

Start Gazebo and spawn WAM-V with propulsion and sensor configuration.

roslaunch vrx_gazebo vrx.launch

Robot Localization

Visualization (and a number of other capabilities) benefit from having a fixed local frame. The GPS sensor provides localization in a fixed frame, but having a local "odom" frame helps us avoid having to visualize the entire globe!

We can use the robot_localization package to fuse the GPS and IMU data to generate a position solution, and TF transforms, where the location of the local frame is specified by the user. To try this out, start Gazebo with the command above, then open a new terminal or tab and run:

roslaunch wamv_gazebo localization_example.launch

Note: Due to a recent change in ROS, this command may produce a lot of warnings. For purposes of this tutorial they can be disregarded.

Visualization

After executing both commands above, open a third terminal and start RViz with example configuration file to read URDF and sensors. Follow these tutorials for an introduction to RViz.

roslaunch wamv_gazebo rviz_vrx.launch