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Connect to a ROS-enabled Robot from Simulink

You can use Simulink® to connect to a ROS-enabled physical robot or to a ROS-enabled robot simulator such as Gazebo. This example shows how to configure Simulink to connect to a separate robot simulator using ROS. It then shows how to send velocity commands and receive position information from a simulated robot.

You can follow the steps in the example to create your own model, or you can use this completed version instead.

open_system('robotROSConnectToRobotExample');

Prerequisites: Get Started with ROS, Exchange Data with ROS Publishers and Subscribers, Get Started with ROS in Simulink.

Robot Simulator

Start a ROS-based simulator for a differential-drive robot. The simulator receives and sends messages on the following topics:

  • Sends nav_msgs/Odometry messages to the /odom topic

  • Receives geometry_msgs/Twist velocity command messages on the /mobile_base/commands or /cmd_vel topic, based on the ROS-based simulator

You can choose one of two options for setting up the ROS-based simulator.

Option A: Simulator in MATLAB®

Use a simple MATLAB-based simulator to plot the current location of the robot in a separate figure window.

  • Enter rosinit at the MATLAB command line. This creates a local ROS master with network address (URI) of http://localhost:11311.

  • Enter ExampleHelperSimulinkRobotROS to start the Robot Simulator:

  • Note: The geometry_msgs/Twist velocity command messages are received on the /mobile_base/commands/velocity topic.

Option B: Gazebo Simulator

Use a simulated TurtleBot® in Gazebo.

  • See Add, Build, and Remove Objects in Gazebo for instructions on setting up the Gazebo environment. In the Ubuntu® desktop in the virtual machine, click the "Gazebo Empty" icon.

  • Note the network address (URI) of the ROS master. It will look like http://192.168.84.128:11311, but with your specific IP address.

  • Verify that the Gazebo environment is properly set up by typing the rostopic list in the Ubuntu terminal window. You should see a list of topics, including /cmd_vel and /odom.

  • Note: The geometry_msgs/Twist velocity command messages are received on the /cmd_vel topic.

Configure Simulink to Connect to the ROS Network

1. From the Simulation tab, select ROS Toolbox > ROS Network.

2. In the ROS Master (ROS 1) section, select Custom from the Network Address dropdown.

  • Option A (MATLAB Simulator): Ensure that the Hostname/IP Address is set to localhost, and Port is set to 11311.

  • Option B (Gazebo Simulator): Specify the IP address and port number of the ROS master in Gazebo. For example, if it is http://192.168.60.165:11311, then enter 192.168.60.165 in the Hostname/IP address box and 11311 in the Port box.

Send Velocity Commands To the Robot

Create a publisher that sends control commands (linear and angular velocities) to the simulator. Make these velocities adjustable by using Slider Gain blocks.

ROS uses a right-handed coordinate system, so X-axis is forward, Y-axis is left, and Z-axis is up. Control commands are sent using a geometry_msgs/Twist message, where Linear.X indicates linear forward velocity (in m/s), and Angular.Z indicates angular velocity around the Z-axis (in rad/s).

Configure a Publisher Block

  1. Open a new Simulink model.

  2. From the ROS Toolbox > ROS tab in the Library Browser, drag a Publish block to the model. Double-click the block.

  3. Set Topic source field to Select From ROS network. Select a topic based on the simulator as shown below.

  • Option A (MATLAB Simulator): Click Select next to Topic, select /mobile_base/commands/velocity, and click OK. Note that the message type (geometry_msgs/Twist) is set automatically.

  • Option B (Gazebo Simulator): Click Select next to Topic, select /cmd_vel, and click OK. Note that the message type (geometry_msgs/Twist) is set automatically.

Configure a Message Block

  1. From the ROS Toolbox > ROS tab in the Library Browser, drop a Blank Message block to the model. Double-click the block.

  2. Click Select next to Message type and select geometry_msgs/Twist.

  3. Set Sample time to 0.01 and click OK.

Configure Message Inputs

  1. From the Simulink > Signal Routing tab in the Library Browser, drag a Bus Assignment block to the model.

  2. Connect the Msg output of the Blank Message block to the Bus input of the Bus Assignment block, and the Bus output to the Msg input of the Publish block.

  3. From the Modeling tab, click Update Model to ensure that the bus information is correctly propagated. Ignore any errors if they appear. The next step will resolve the errors.

  4. Double-click the Bus Assignment block. Select ??? signal1 in the right list box and click Remove. In the left list box, expand both Linear and Angular properties. Select Linear > X and Angular > Z and click Select. Click OK to close the block mask.

  • Add a Constant block, a Gain block, and two Slider Gain blocks. Connect them together as shown in the figure, and set the Gain value to -1.

  • Set the limits and current parameters of the linear velocity slider to 0.0 to 2.0, and 1.0 respectively. Set the corresponding parameters of the steering gain slider to -1.0 to 1.0, and 0.1.

Receive Location Information from the Robot

Create a subscriber to receive messages sent to the /odom topic. Extract the location of the robot and plot it's path in the XY-plane.

Configure a Subscriber block

  1. From the ROS Toolbox > ROS tab in the Library Browser, drag a Subscribe block to the model. Double-click the block.

  2. Set Topic source to Select From ROS network, and click Select next to the Topic box. Select "/odom" for the topic and click OK. Note that the message type nav_msgs/Odometry is set automatically.

Read Message Output

  1. From the Simulink > Signal Routing tab in the Library Browser, drag a Bus Selector block to the model.

  2. Connect the output port of the Subscribe block to the input port of the Bus Selector block. In the Modeling tab, click Update Model to ensure that the bus information is correctly propagated.

  3. Double-click the Bus Selector block. Select signal1 and signal2 in the right listbox and click to remove them. In the left listbox, expand Pose > Pose > Position and select X and Y. Click to select the signals and then OK.

  4. From the Simulink > Sinks tab in the Library Browser, drag an XY Graph block to the model. Connect the X and Y output ports of the Bus Selector block to the input ports of the XY Graph block.

This figure shows the completed model. A pre-configured model is included for your convenience.

  • Note: The Publisher block in this model uses the /mobile_base/commands/velocity topic for use with MATLAB simulator option. For Gazebo simulator option, select the /cmd_vel topic as shown above.

Configure and Run the Model

  1. From the Modeling tab, click Model Settings. In the Solver pane, set Type to Fixed-step and Fixed-step size to 0.01.

  2. Set simulation Stop time to Inf.

  3. Click Run to start the simulation.

  4. In both the simulator and XY plot, you should see the robot moving in a circle.

  5. While the simulation is running, change the values of Slider Gain blocks to control the robot. Double-click the XY Graph block and change the X and Y axis limits if needed. (You can do this while the simulation is running.)

  6. To stop the simulation, click Stop.