Custom DWA Local Planner (ROS2 Humble)

A custom Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) local planner implemented from scratch for TurtleBot3 in ROS2 Humble. This planner navigates the robot to goals while avoiding obstacles using velocity sampling, trajectory prediction, and cost-based evaluation.

Implementation Details

• Velocity Sampling: Samples velocity commands within the robot's dynamic constraints
• Trajectory Prediction: Simulates forward trajectories for each velocity sample
• Cost Function: Evaluates trajectories based on distance to goal, obstacle avoidance, and path smoothness
• ROS2 Integration: Subscribes to /odom and /scan, publishes /cmd_vel, visualizes trajectories in RViz

Setup

1. Create a ROS2 workspace

mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src
cd ~/ros2_ws/src

2. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/saumyaezhil/Custom-DWA-Local-Planner.git

3. Build the package

cd ~/ros2_ws
colcon build --packages-select dwa_local_planner --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

Running

Terminal 1: Launch TurtleBot3 in Gazebo

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
export TURTLEBOT3_MODEL=burger
ros2 launch turtlebot3_gazebo turtlebot3_world.launch.py

Terminal 2: Start the DWA planner

cd ~/ros2_ws
source install/setup.bash
ros2 run dwa_local_planner simple_dwa

Terminal 3: Open RViz

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run rviz2 rviz2

RViz Configuration:

• Set Fixed Frame to odom
• Add: LaserScan, Odometry, TF, MarkerArray (/dwa_trajectories)
• Use 2D Nav Goal tool to send navigation goals