zm_robot

The zm robot is a autonomous mobile robot by 4 mecanum wheel driving under Gazebo simulation. It has two 2D-Lidar, four ultrasound, RGB-D camera and Imu sensor. The purpose of this project is to make it easy for people to understand the control method of Omnidirectional Wheel and the establishment of mobile robots in the environment of ROS and Gazebo.

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Built with

• ROS Jazzy under Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

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Getting Started

Installation

• Installation Gazebo Harmonic

  • Gazebo Harmonic Install Tutorial - https://gazebosim.org/docs/harmonic/install_ubuntu/

• Installation ros package.

  $ sudo apt-get install ros-jazzy-ros-gz-sim ros-jazzy-xacro

  $ sudo apt-get install -y ros-jazzy-cartographer-ros

  $ sudo apt-get install -y ros-jazzy-navigation2

  $ sudo apt-get install -y ros-jazzy-nav2-bringup

• clone AWS RoboMaker Small Warehouse World package.

$ git clone https://github.com/Juancams/aws-robomaker-small-warehouse-world

Run

• The zm_robot 3d model xaro file into Rviz.

$ ros2 launch zm_robot_description zm_robot_demo.launch.py

• The zm_robot 3d model xaro file into Gazebo.

$ ros2 launch zm_robot_gazebo zm_robot_empty_world.launch.py

• This is a zm_robot control using a keyboard.

$ ros2 run zm_robot_teleop zm_robot_teleop_key

• The zm_robot warehouse environment under Gazebo.

$ ros2 launch zm_robot_gazebo zm_robot_aws_warehouse.launch.py

• The zm_robot create a map at warehouse.

$ ros2 launch zm_robot_navigation zm_robot_cartographer.launch.py

• Cartographer save map command.

$ ros2 service call /write_state cartographer_ros_msgs/srv/WriteState "{filename : '${HOME}/zm_robot_cartographer_map.pbstream'}"
$ ros2 run nav2_map_server map_saver_cli -f ~/map

• The zm_robot can do navigation and aviod obstacles at warehouse using amcl.

$ ros2 launch zm_robot_navigation zm_robot_navigation2.launch.py

• The zm_robot navigation using cartographer localization.

$ ros2 launch zm_robot_navigation zm_robot_cartographer_navigation2.launch.py

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• The zm_robot can do navigation and aviod obstacles at warehouse using programing.

$ ros2 run zm_robot_programing zm_robot_move

The zm_robot_move.cpp example.

import rclpy
from zm_robot_programing.zm_robot_action import zm_robot_cmd

def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)
    zm_robot = zm_robot_cmd()
    zm_robot.move_map(1.0, 1.0, 0.0)
    zm_robot.move_map(1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
    zm_robot.move_base(-1.0, 0.0, 0.0)
    exit(0)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

illustration:

Function	Description
zm_robot.move_map(x, y, theta)	zm_robot can move to designated location relative to map.
zm_robot.move_base(x, y, theta)	zm_robot can move to designated location relative to base.

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zm_robot topic

Topic	Description
cmd_vel	zm_robot input to move velocity.
joint_states	zm_robot joint status topic.
odom	zm_robot odomentry topic.
sick_s30b/laser/scan0	sick laser1 Laserscan.
sick_s30b/laser/scan1	sick laser2 Laserscan.
kinect_v2/color/image_raw	Kinect V2 RGB image.
kinect_v2/depth/image_raw	Kinect V2 Depth image.
zm_robot_imu	zm_robot IMU sensor.
ultrasound_1	ultrasound on zm_robot left and front.
ultrasound_2	ultrasound on zm_robot right and front.
ultrasound_3	ultrasound on zm_robot left and rear.
ultrasound_4	ultrasound on zm_robot right and rear.

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History:

Branch	Description	File Creation
ros1-original	zm_robot original version.	July, 2020.
ros1	zm_robot ros1 version for zm_robot programing simply.	July, 2021.
ros1-main	zm_robot ros1-main version add safety function .	August, 2021.
ros1-pid	zm_robot ros1-pid version using PID controller for zm_robot programing simply.	July, 2021.
ros2-foxy	zm_robot ros2 versoin under ROS 2 Foxy environment.	August, 2021.
ros2-jazzy	zm_robot ros2 versoin under ROS 2 Jazzy environment.	Feb., 2025.

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Reference:

[1]. turtlebot3_teleop, https://github.com/ROBOTIS-GIT/turtlebot3/tree/master/turtlebot3_teleop

[2]. mecanum_sim, https://github.com/joelillo/mecanum_sim

[3]. Gazebo tutorial - Control plugin. http://gazebosim.org/tutorials?cat=guided_i&tut=guided_i5

[4]. Gazebo tutorial - Sensor plugin. http://gazebosim.org/tutorials?tut=ros_gzplugins&cat=connect_ros

[5]. aws-robomaker-small-warehouse-world. https://github.com/Juancams/aws-robomaker-small-warehouse-world

[6]. gazebo_mecanum_plugins. https://github.com/qaz9517532846/gazebo_mecanum_plugins

[7]. navigation2. https://github.com/ros-planning/navigation2

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This repository is for your reference only. copying, patent application, academic journals are strictly prohibited.

Copyright © 2025 ZM Robotics Software Laboratory.