DWA Local Planner for TurtleBot3 Burger

Overview

A ROS2 Humble package implementing a Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) local planner optimized for TurtleBot3 Burger. Features carefully tuned parameters for stable navigation and obstacle avoidance.

Installation

  # 1. Create workspace
  mkdir -p ~/dwa_ws/src
  cd ~/dwa_ws/src
  
  # 2. Clone repository
  git clone https://github.com/ashwinsivakumar-18/DWA-Local-Planner-in-ROS2-Humble.git
  
  # 3. Build package
  cd ~/dwa_ws
  rosdep install -i --from-path src --rosdistro humble -y
  colcon build --symlink-install
  
  # 4. Setup environment
  echo "source ~/dwa_ws/install/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
  echo "export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger" >> ~/.bashrc
  source ~/.bashrc

⚙️ Configuration Parameters

🚗 Motion Constraints

Parameter	Default	Description
max_speed	0.15 m/s	Maximum linear velocity
min_speed	0.05 m/s	Minimum forward velocity
max_turn_rate	2.84 rad/s	Maximum angular velocity (~163°/s)
max_acceleration	0.1 m/s²	Linear acceleration limit
max_deceleration	0.2 m/s²	Linear deceleration limit
max_turn_acceleration	1.0 rad/s²	Angular acceleration limit

---

🧭 Navigation Parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
robot_radius	0.12 m	Physical robot radius
safety_margin	0.15 m	Additional obstacle clearance
goal_tolerance	0.35 m	Goal acceptance radius
slow_down_distance	0.75 m	Distance to begin deceleration
sim_samples	15	Velocity samples for simulation
eval_samples	80	Trajectories to evaluate

---

🧮 Cost Function Weights

Parameter	Default	Purpose
goal_weight	3.0	Goal attraction strength
obstacle_weight	3.0	Obstacle avoidance strength
heading_weight	1.5	Path alignment importance

🧠 How the System Works (Multi-Terminal Execution)

To run the full custom DWA planner system with Gazebo simulation and RViz2 visualization, use the following three terminals:

---

✅ Terminal 1 – Launch Gazebo Simulation

ros2 launch turtlebot3_gazebo turtlebot3_dqn_stage4.launch.py

Launches the TurtleBot3 simulation in Gazebo (stage4 environment).

Spawns the robot with sensors and physics.

Publishes essential topics like:

/odom – robot odometry

/scan – laser scan

/tf – coordinate transforms

✅ Terminal 2 - Start DWA planner

ros2 run custom_dwa_planner_cpp dwa_planner --ros-args -p goal_x:=1.0 -p goal_y:=1.5

planner.launch.py sets up required parameters/nodes.

dwa_planner is the custom local planner:

Subscribes to /odom, /scan

Publishes velocity commands to /cmd_vel

Computes safe and goal-directed motion in real-time

Parameters: goal_x / goal_y – target position

✅ Terminal 3 - Launch RViz visualization

ros2 launch turtlebot3_bringup rviz2.launch.py 

Launches RViz2 with the default TurtleBot3 config.

Visualizes: Robot model and position Laser scan data TF tree Planned path and goals

🖼️ Add Markers in RViz2

To visualize the DWA planner’s evaluated trajectories or selected path:

Open RViz2. In the "Displays" panel, click Add.---> Choose MarkerArray.

---

✅ Project Status

This repository implements a custom Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) local planner for TurtleBot3 in ROS2 Humble, built entirely from scratch without relying on nav2_dwb_controller.
Simulation is run in Gazebo, and the planner includes visualization using MarkerArray in RViz2.
The planner is tested in stage4 environments and supports real-time navigation to user-defined goals using velocity sampling and cost function optimization.

---

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! 🚀
If you'd like to improve the planner, add features, fix bugs, or optimize performance, follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a new branch (git checkout -b feature-name)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m "Add feature")
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature-name)
5. Open a Pull Request

📌 Issues and suggestions are also welcome via the Issues tab.

---

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.