ROS2 packages for Parallax Eddie robot along with simulations using Gazebo (formerly ignition gazebo)

For an in depth tutorial on how to use this package check out the accompanying tutorial: robotics lab

• eddiebot_bringup: The driver for the Eddie robot board. It establishes a connection to the board using UART and acts as a bridge between ROS2 and Eddie commands that the firmware on the board understands. For more details about the commands please checkout the documentation directory.
• eddiebot_description: This package defines structure of the robot using URDF modelsf for every component of the robot. These models are used for generating kinematic and tf information. It uses the diff_drive plugin for differential drive control of the robot. The launch files start robot_state_publisher that reads the URDF model and generates static TF transforms, and joint_state_publisher that sends out dynamic TF transforms for joint position updates.
• eddiebot_gazebo: Contains some sample worlds to test the robot in, along with a bunch of launch files that are able to setup Gazebo, spawn Eddie into the world, and necessary bridges for ROS2 and Gazebo communication.
• eddiebot_nav: Contains the launch files for the setup and launch of the navigation stack using nav2, slam_toolbox, depthimage_to_laserscan, and various other packages.
• eddiebot_msgs: Definition of specific topics and services for Eddie robot.
• eddiebot_odom: Publishes odometry information useful for mapping and localization. It publishes the transform between the frames /odom and /base_footprint.
• eddiebot_rviz: Rviz configurations and launch files for visualizing and monitoring various aspects of Eddie.
• eddiebot_vel_controller: A converter between different velocity types.

• How to convert a legacy ROS1 codebase to ROS2
• Example of hooks for setting GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH
• Robot description launch with robot_state_publisher, joint_state_publisher, and joint_state_publisher_gui
• Kinect, Depth, Ultrasonic and infrared sensors in new Gazebo (gpu_lidar, gz::sim::systems::Sensors, rgbd_camera, gz-sim-sensors-system)
• Use of gz-sim-diff-drive-system gz::sim::systems::DiffDrive for differential drive control.
• Employing xacro files for easier management of robot structure defitnition.
• Launch files for launching Gazebo and Spawning a robot using ros_gz_sim and ros_gz
• Use of pointcloud_to_laserscan for depth camera.
• Examples of ros_gz_bridge for bridging ROS2 with Gazebo.
• Modern nav2, slam_toolbox, and rtabmap launch and configuration files.
• Computation and publishing of odometry.
• rviz launch files with proper TF transformation along with different configuration files.
• Use of the new Gazebo (formerly ignition gazebo)