Navigation Operations

This section covers navigation-related operations for the RCR Common Robotics Platform.

Prerequisites

• Discovery Server Running: Ensure a ROS discovery server is running (see Discovery Server Setup)

• Robot hardware properly assembled and calibrated

• LiDAR sensor functioning correctly

• Odometry system working (wheel encoders and/or IMU)

• Sufficient battery charge

Navigation Procedures

Mapping and Localization

• Mapping - Creating and updating maps

• Localization - Robot positioning and localization

• Path Planning - Navigation and path planning

Navigation Overview

The navigation system consists of several key components:

1. Mapping - Creating maps of the environment

2. Localization - Determining robot position

3. Path Planning - Planning routes to destinations

4. Obstacle Avoidance - Avoiding obstacles during navigation

Quick Start

Basic Navigation

# Launch navigation system
ros2 launch common_platform navigation_launch.py

# Set navigation goal
ros2 run nav2_util navigation_goal --x 2.0 --y 1.0 --yaw 0.0

Mapping

# Launch SLAM
ros2 launch common_platform cartographer_2d.launch.py

# Save map
ros2 run nav2_map_server map_saver_cli -f my_map

Navigation Components

Sensors

• LiDAR for obstacle detection

• IMU for orientation

• Odometry for position tracking

Software

• ROS2 Navigation2 stack

• Cartographer for SLAM

• AMCL for localization

Troubleshooting

Common navigation issues:

• Localization failures

• Path planning errors

• Obstacle detection problems

See Troubleshooting for solutions.

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For setup procedures, see Setup For troubleshooting, see Troubleshooting