Differential Drive Robot Simulation using ROS2 Jazzy & Gazebo Harmonic

This repository contains a simple Differential Drive Robot simulation developed using ROS2 Jazzy Jalisco and Gazebo Harmonic.

The project demonstrates the implementation of a mobile robot using:

• URDF/Xacro robot modeling
• Gazebo simulation
• Differential drive motion control
• ROS2 topic communication
• Gazebo plugins

The robot can move using velocity commands published on the /cmd_vel topic.

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🚀 Technologies Used

• ROS2 Jazzy Jalisco
• Gazebo Harmonic
• Python
• URDF / Xacro
• ros_gz_sim
• ros_gz_bridge
• Differential Drive Plugin

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📂 Repository Structure

dd_bot/
│── src/
│   ├── mobile_robot/
│       ├── launch/
│       ├── urdf/
|       ├── mobile_robot/
│       ├── package.xml
│       ├── setup.py
│       ├── CMakeLists.txt

The robot is a simple two-wheeled differential drive mobile robot created using URDF/Xacro.

The robot consists of:

Base chassis Left wheel Right wheel Caster wheel Differential drive plugin for motion control

The robot is simulated in Gazebo Harmonic and controlled through ROS2 velocity commands.

Publish velocity commands using:

ros2 topic pub /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/msg/Twist "
linear:
  x: 0.5
angular:
  z: 0.5"

Publish velocity commands using teleop_twist_keyboard:

ros2 run teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard

Note: Use your keys to move Robot in active terminal !

📸 Screenshots

📚 Learning Outcome

Through this project, I learned:

• Differential drive robot kinematics
• ROS2 and Gazebo integration
• URDF/Xacro robot modeling
• Gazebo plugin configuration
• Velocity-based robot control
• Simulation workflow in ROS2 Jazzy

🎯 Future Improvements

• Add LiDAR sensor
• Add SLAM functionality
• Add autonomous navigation
• Integrate Nav2 stack
• Add keyboard teleoperation
• Add obstacle avoidance

👨‍💻 Author

Zaid Khan | Robotics Enthusiast | ROS2 Developer