Template for nav_core::BaseGlobalPlanner path planner

To use the package add following line in your launch file under move_base node package

<param name="base_global_planner" value="template_planner_ns/template_planner"/>

NOTE: You are required to fill the findPath function in template_planner_pkg/src/template_planner.cpp without which the planner won't work. A helper code is provided comented inside the function body that can be used to test out the planner quickly before writing your own algorithm.

A simple configuration setup is provided in the nav_stack folder consisting of basic configuration and launch files. An rviz file is also provided to aid in saving some time which is usually rather wasted adding widgets.

Quickstart

1. Go to template_planner_pkg/src/template_planner.cpp and uncomment contents of findPath() function.

2. Go to your workspace and do catkin_make.

3. Source your workspace using source <your_workspace>/devel/setup.bash.

4. Planner should be available as a plugin to nav_core::BaseGlobalPlanner now. Confirm by typing rospack plugins --attrib=plugin nav_core in the terminal, one of the planners should be straight_planner with its path specified. Try launching roslaunch nav_stack move_base.launch with turtlebot3_house or turtlebot3_world.

To customize, put in your own algorithm inside the findPath function in template_planner_pkg/src/template_planner.cpp.

What is findPath function?

This is template code for global_planner plugins that are used to do grid-based path planning with ROS.

To work with it, write your grid-based path planning code in findPath funciton of template_planner_pkg/src/template_planner.cpp.

Inputs to this function are:

1. startCell: Index, instead of row & column of the corresponding cell, is passed to this function after flattening 2D grid in row-major 1D array.

2. goalCell: Index, instead of row & column of the corresponding cell, is passed to this function after flattening 2D grid in row-major 1D array.

3. width: Integer value representing number of cells in one row of the grid.

4. height: Integer value representing number of rows in the grid.

Return value must be a vector of integers representing index values of cells which are part of the path, first element of vector being start cell's index and last element being goal cell's index.

Branches

1. master: Empty template code that can be customized.

2. Straight-line: Straight line planner.

3. more_planners: More planners on my personal repo.