how to use the frontier_exploration package

Question

Hello I am currently working on a project where a turtlebot robot have to create a map of a room without human intervention. I am working with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with ROS Indigo. I found the Frontier_Exploration package which, if i understood the documentation well, should allow me to do this mapping, but i was not able to make it work.

So i had some questions :

• What nodes and topics does the global_map.launch file need in order to works ?
• How to tell the turtlebot to start the exploration ?

EDIT : One last question, i just wanted to know where you have to change the obstacle's width. For now my robot cant go though all the room i want to map because there is 2 wall too close one to each other, and the package consider the robot cant go though ( even when it is amply possible ). I tried changing the inflation_radius parameter in global_map.launch (frontier_exploration/launch ) and in costmap_common_params.yaml (turtlebot_navigation/param ) but it don't change the radius.

EDIT 2 : Solved it, the parameter to change was indeed inflation_radius, but i forgot to change it in the laser/costman_comon_param.yaml

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Originally posted by Swan Baigne on ROS Answers with karma: 47 on 2015-04-07

Post score: 2

Answer 1

Check out the husky's frontier exploration demo (http://wiki.ros.org/husky_navigation/Tutorials/Husky%20Frontier%20Exploration%20Demo), and you can work backwards from the launch files to port it to a turtlebot.

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EDIT: Thanks for picking that up, turns out there was a strange issue that was preventing the explore_client node from compiling and working properly in the binary release. It's now been fixed, but hasn't been synced to the public ROS packages yet, so please either run frontier_exploration from source, from get the new release from ROS shadow repos , or from the Clearpath packages.

PS Make sure you have the 'Exploration' Markers turned on in the husky_viz rviz config

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Originally posted by paulbovbel with karma: 4518 on 2015-04-07

This answer was ACCEPTED on the original site

Post score: 3

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Original comments

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-04-08:
Thanks for your answer, but i have the same problem when trying to use this tutorial : i create the polygon with the "Publish Point" button, but nothing happens. My exploration_demo.launch terminal show : "Laser Pose= 0.00145 0.0035 Registering Scans:Done" repeated every second

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-04-09:
Perfect, i ran the package from ROS shadow repos and it works fine, thanks for the answers !

Comment by sobot on 2015-05-05:
i am having the very same problem... i ran through all of your instruction and it still only logs (Pose=0.000874 0.000812 Registering Scans: Done.) does not move but i get a partial map reading at its stationary place. Kobuki + URG lidar. help would be much appreciated. - but husky move_base works!

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-05-06:
Did you make sure you have changed the right parameters in exploration.launch or other files to adapt to your robot ? Also try to download the package again from each of the repertory mentioned in paulbovel's answer : it's possible you dont have the right version

Comment by sobot on 2015-05-06:
@Swan Baigne I downloaded and checked the fixed package, as far as gmapping and move_base im getting good results. what do i need to change in exploration.launch? .yaml files? i played around a lot but maybe im missing something. do you have your working config / files to share? i be very thankful

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-05-06:
After thinking about it, exploration.launch shouldn't change the way the package work. Could you put a list of the nodes running ?

Comment by sobot on 2015-05-06:
Sure, here: /base_footprint_to_base_link
/base_link_to_base_laser_link
/diagnostic_aggregator
/explore_client
/explore_server
/laser_scan
/mobile_base
/mobile_base_nodelet_manager
/move_base
/rosout
/slam_gmapping

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-05-06:
Explore_Server is running, so there should not have any problem ... Try to download from Clearpath Packages because i can confirm that normal and shadow version don't works. And when you create your polygon and close it, does the polygon become red ? if not it's a problem with the package.

Comment by sobot on 2015-05-06:
The polygon becomes red 1 out of 10 tries, and with the same config. when i set the start off point, the robot just goes to that point on the grid and stops. Just to make sure i do right, i just add ClearPath repo as in the link Paul provided and remove/reinstall husky_nav and frontier_exploration?

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-05-06:
It only go to the point and stop ??? It never happened to me, and my polygon either always or never become red ... You should either create another question or directly send a mail to paulbovbel, your problem is beyond the help i can give you, sorry

Comment by sobot on 2015-05-06:
yeap, correct. its weird... already created another Question. Thank you for your time mate. As for getting the packages from Clearpath repo, to give it a shot. i should just add the Repo address and reinstall or update? that'd get the fixed version? - so i'll try it when i get to my robot. thx again

Comment by Swan Baigne on 2015-05-07:
Yeah, just have to apt-get remove the package, add the clearpath repos and apt-get update / apt-get install

Comment by sobot on 2015-05-07:
cheers! thanks for your time. did that and posted a question HERE along with a graph of my node/topics, explorer_client is a loner with no connections to the rest of the tree (and explorer_server) aint it strange?