Nova-Bot Autonomous Navigation Robot

Nova-Bot is a high-performance differential drive robot designed for autonomous navigation in complex indoor environments. Built on ROS 2 Jazzy with Gazebo Harmonic simulation, it features advanced lidar-based SLAM, real-time obstacle avoidance, and full Nav2 integration for autonomous operation.

🌟 Features

• Autonomous Navigation: Full Nav2 stack integration with dynamic obstacle avoidance
• SLAM Mapping: Real-time map building using SLAM Toolbox
• AMCL Localization: Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization for precise pose estimation
• Sensor Suite: 360° lidar (100 Hz), RGB camera, IMU sensor
• High Performance: 1.0 m/s max speed, optimized for fast navigation
• Multiple Environments: Home world with furniture, empty world, and maze
• Gazebo Simulation: Realistic physics simulation with sensor modeling
• RViz Visualization: Real-time robot state and sensor visualization

📦 Packages

nova_bot_description

Robot URDF/Xacro model with complete sensor suite.

• Differential drive base with wheels
• 360° lidar sensor (100 Hz update rate)
• RGB camera with image bridge
• IMU sensor for orientation
• Visual and collision meshes

nova_bot_gazebo

Gazebo Harmonic simulation environment.

• Home world with kitchen, bedroom, and furniture
• Empty world for testing
• Gazebo bridge for sensor data and robot control
• RViz integration for visualization

nova_bot_navigation

Complete Nav2 navigation stack with optimized parameters.

• Mapping: SLAM Toolbox for real-time map building
• Localization: AMCL for robot pose estimation
• Navigation: Nav2 with DWB controller and obstacle avoidance
• EKF: Sensor fusion for improved odometry

🛠️ Requirements

• ROS 2: Jazzy Jalisco
• Gazebo: Harmonic
• Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04
• Dependencies:
  • ros-jazzy-navigation2
  • ros-jazzy-nav2-bringup
  • ros-jazzy-slam-toolbox
  • ros-jazzy-ros-gz-sim
  • ros-jazzy-ros-gz-bridge
  • ros-jazzy-robot-localization
  • ros-jazzy-interactive-marker-twist-server
  • ros-jazzy-rviz2

📥 Installation

# Create workspace
mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src
cd ~/ros2_ws/src

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/nova-bot.git
cd ..

# Install dependencies
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

# Build workspace
colcon build --symlink-install

# Source workspace
source install/setup.bash

🚀 Usage

1. Gazebo Simulation

Launch the robot in Gazebo simulation:

ros2 launch nova_bot_gazebo gazebo.launch.py

Optional parameters:

ros2 launch nova_bot_gazebo gazebo.launch.py world:=home.sdf x:=2.5 y:=1.5 yaw:=-1.5707

2. Robot Visualization

View robot model without simulation:

ros2 launch nova_bot_description display.launch.py

3. SLAM Mapping

Create a map of the environment:

# Launch mapping with RViz
ros2 launch nova_bot_navigation mapping.launch.py

# Drive robot with keyboard (in new terminal)
ros2 run teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard

# Save map when done
ros2 run nav2_map_server map_saver_cli -f ~/maps/my_map

4. Autonomous Navigation

Navigate autonomously using the saved map:

ros2 launch nova_bot_navigation navigation.launch.py

Use RViz to set navigation goals with "2D Goal Pose" tool.

5. Localization Only

Localize robot on existing map:

ros2 launch nova_bot_navigation localization.launch.py

📊 Performance

• Max Linear Velocity: 1.0 m/s
• Max Angular Velocity: 1.5 rad/s
• Navigation Speed: 0.8 m/s
• Lidar Update Rate: 100 Hz
• Lidar Range: 0.12m - 10.0m, 360 samples
• Odometry Frequency: 50 Hz

🎮 Keyboard Teleop Controls

Moving around:
   u    i    o
   j    k    l
   m    ,    .

q/z : increase/decrease max speeds by 10%
w/x : increase/decrease only linear speed by 10%
e/c : increase/decrease only angular speed by 10%

📁 Project Structure

nova-bot/
├── nova_bot_description/      # Robot URDF models and meshes
│   ├── urdf/                  # URDF/Xacro files
│   │   ├── nova_bot.urdf.xacro
│   │   ├── nova_bot.gazebo.xacro
│   │   ├── common/            # Properties, inertia, positions
│   │   └── component/         # Base, wheels, sensors
│   ├── meshes/                # 3D models (visual & collision)
│   │   ├── visual/
│   │   └── collision/
│   ├── rviz/                  # RViz configurations
│   └── launch/                # Display launch files
├── nova_bot_gazebo/           # Gazebo simulation
│   ├── worlds/                # SDF world files
│   │   ├── home.sdf
│   │   └── empty.sdf
│   └── launch/                # Gazebo launch files
├── nova_bot_navigation/       # Navigation stack
│   ├── config/                # Nav2 & SLAM parameters
│   │   ├── amcl_localization.yaml
│   │   ├── navigation.yaml
│   │   ├── slam_toolbox_mapping.yaml
│   │   └── ekf.yaml
│   ├── maps/                  # Saved maps
│   ├── rviz/                  # Navigation RViz configs
│   └── launch/                # Navigation launch files
└── media/                     # Documentation images

🔧 Configuration Files

• AMCL Localization: nova_bot_navigation/config/amcl_localization.yaml
• Navigation: nova_bot_navigation/config/navigation.yaml
• SLAM Toolbox: nova_bot_navigation/config/slam_toolbox_mapping.yaml
• EKF: nova_bot_navigation/config/ekf.yaml

🐛 Troubleshooting

Robot not visible in RViz:

• Check TF tree: ros2 run tf2_tools view_frames
• Verify all nodes running: ros2 node list
• For display.launch.py, ensure Fixed Frame is set to base_link

Navigation not working:

• Ensure initial pose is set in RViz (2D Pose Estimate)
• Check AMCL particle cloud is visible
• Verify map is loaded: ros2 topic echo /map --once

Lidar not showing:

• Check scan topic: ros2 topic echo /scan --once
• Verify nova_lidar_link in TF tree

Display launch shows odom errors:

• This is normal - change Fixed Frame in RViz to base_link

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

👨‍💻 Author

Ojas Thombare

🙏 Acknowledgments

• ROS 2 Navigation Stack (Nav2)
• SLAM Toolbox
• Gazebo Simulator
• Open Robotics

Save map:

ros2 run nav2_map_server map_saver_cli -f ~/dev_ws/src/nova-bot/nova_bot_navigation/maps/my_map

4. Autonomous Navigation

ros2 launch nova_bot_navigation navigation.launch.py

Set goals using RViz "2D Goal Pose" button.

Configuration

Robot Speed

wheel.gazebo.xacro:

<max_linear_velocity>1.0</max_linear_velocity>

Navigation Speed

navigation.yaml:

max_vel_x: 0.8

Lidar Rate

lidar.gazebo.xacro:

<update_rate>100</update_rate>

Topics

Published:

• /cmd_vel - Velocity commands
• /odom - Odometry
• /scan - Lidar (100Hz)
• /camera/image - Camera feed
• /imu/data - IMU

Subscribed:

• /cmd_vel - Control input
• /map - Navigation map

Troubleshooting

Map frame error in RViz:

• Change Fixed Frame to odom when running only Gazebo
• Use map when running navigation

Robot not visible:

• Check Z spawn position > 0.1
• Enable RobotModel, TF, LaserScan in RViz

Navigation not working:

• Verify map is loaded
• Set initial pose with "2D Pose Estimate"
• Check /scan topic is publishing

Requirements

• ROS 2 Jazzy
• Gazebo Harmonic
• Nav2
• SLAM Toolbox

License

Apache-2.0

Author

Ojas