URC Rover Software

This repository contains the RoboJackets University Rover Challenge ROS 2 software stack. It targets ROS 2 Humble on Ubuntu 22.04 and uses C++17, Python launch files, ament_cmake, and colcon.

Quick start

Create a workspace and clone the repository with its submodules:

mkdir -p rover_ws
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/RoboJackets/urc-software.git rover_ws/src
cd rover_ws

Install dependencies and build from the workspace root:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
colcon build --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

Start the rover simulation:

ros2 launch urc_bringup sim.launch.py

Enable the autonomy stack when needed:

ros2 launch urc_bringup sim.launch.py autonomy:=true

There is currently no single launch file for complete physical-rover bringup.

Repository map

• urc_bringup composes simulation, autonomy, base-station, and rocker-control launches.
• urc_hw, urc_controllers, and urc_hw_description own hardware access, ROS 2 control, and the rover model.
• urc_localization, urc_perception, urc_path_planning, urc_state_machine, and urc_trajectory_following form the autonomy stack.
• urc_platform, urc_msgs, urc_nanopb, and urc_nav_common provide platform adapters and shared interfaces.
• external contains vendored submodules and should not be modified as normal first-party code.

Core package layout

The core packages follow the standard ROS 2 layout: public C++ headers live in include/<package>/, implementations live in src/, runtime parameters live in config/, and launch composition lives in launch/. The trees below omit the CMakeLists.txt, package.xml, and README.md present at each package root.

Bringup and autonomy

urc_bringup remains the entry point for composing the rover stack. It does not own general-purpose controller, localization, or platform node implementations.

urc_bringup/
├── config/
│   ├── sim_config.yaml
│   └── test_controllers.yaml
└── launch/
    ├── autonomy.launch.py
    ├── base_station.launch.py
    ├── rocker_effort_pid.launch.py
    └── sim.launch.py

urc_perception/
├── config/
│   ├── pcl_grid_map_params.yaml
│   └── traversability_params.yaml
├── include/urc_perception/
│   ├── gaussian_filter.hpp
│   └── traversability_mapping.hpp
├── launch/
│   ├── d435i.launch.py
│   ├── mapping.launch.py
│   └── perception.launch.py
└── src/
    ├── gaussian_filter.cpp
    └── traversability_mapping.cpp

urc_nav_common/
├── include/urc_nav_common/grid_map_utils.hpp
└── src/grid_map_utils.cpp

urc_path_planning/
├── include/urc_path_planning/
│   ├── astar.hpp
│   └── planner_server.hpp
├── launch/planning.launch.py
└── src/
    ├── astar.cpp
    └── planner_server.cpp

urc_state_machine/
├── include/urc_state_machine/nav_coordinator.hpp
└── src/nav_coordinator.cpp

urc_trajectory_following/
├── config/pure_pursuit_config.yaml
├── include/urc_trajectory_following/
│   ├── follower_action_server.hpp
│   ├── geometry_util.hpp
│   ├── trajectory_controller.hpp
│   ├── trajectory_factory.hpp
│   └── pure_pursuit/pure_pursuit.hpp
├── launch/trajectory_following.launch.py
└── src/
    ├── follower_action_server.cpp
    ├── geometry_util.cpp
    ├── trajectory_factory.cpp
    └── pure_pursuit/pure_pursuit.cpp

Run the complete simulation through urc_bringup:

ros2 launch urc_bringup sim.launch.py
ros2 launch urc_bringup sim.launch.py autonomy:=true

Run only the autonomy nodes when localization, sensors, TF, and rover control are already available:

ros2 launch urc_bringup autonomy.launch.py

There is currently no single launch file for complete physical-rover bringup.

Hardware, localization, and platform integration

urc_controllers/
├── include/urc_controllers/
│   ├── bms_broadcaster.hpp
│   ├── rocker_effort_pid.hpp
│   ├── rocker_tf_broadcaster.hpp
│   ├── status_light_controller.hpp
│   └── swerve_drive_controller.hpp
└── src/
    ├── bms_broadcaster.cpp
    ├── rocker_effort_pid.cpp
    ├── rocker_tf_broadcaster.cpp
    ├── status_light_controller.cpp
    └── swerve_drive_controller.cpp

urc_hw/
├── include/urc_hw/
│   ├── hardware/serial.hpp
│   ├── hardware_interface_types.hpp
│   └── hardware_interfaces/
│       ├── arm_control.hpp
│       ├── battery_management.hpp
│       ├── rover_drivetrain.hpp
│       ├── science_module.hpp
│       ├── status_light.hpp
│       └── test_hardware.hpp
└── src/
    ├── hardware/serial.cpp
    └── hardware_interfaces/
        ├── arm_control.cpp
        ├── battery_management.cpp
        ├── rover_drivetrain.cpp
        ├── science_module.cpp
        ├── status_light.cpp
        └── test_hardware.cpp

urc_localization/
├── config/ekf_redemption.yaml
├── include/urc_localization/
│   ├── covariances_on_gps.hpp
│   ├── covariances_on_imu.hpp
│   ├── gps_imu_localizer.hpp
│   └── ground_truth.hpp
├── launch/ekf.launch.py
└── src/
    ├── covariances_on_gps.cpp
    ├── covariances_on_imu.cpp
    ├── gps_imu_localizer.cpp
    └── ground_truth.cpp

urc_platform/
├── config/
│   ├── controller_config.yaml
│   ├── twist_mux.yaml
│   └── vectornav_imu.yaml
├── include/urc_platform/
│   ├── heartbeat_publisher.hpp
│   ├── imu_ned2enu.hpp
│   ├── joystick_driver.hpp
│   ├── preprocessing.hpp
│   ├── sim_gps_handler.hpp
│   └── twist_mux.hpp
└── src/
    ├── heartbeat_publisher.cpp
    ├── imu_ned2enu.cpp
    ├── joystick_driver.cpp
    ├── sim_gps_handler.cpp
    └── twist_mux.cpp

Rover description and shared interfaces

urc_hw_description/
├── config/joint_limits.yaml
├── launch/display.launch.py
├── meshes/
├── models/
├── rviz/display.rviz
├── urdf/simplified_swerve/
└── world/

urc_msgs/
├── action/NavigateToWaypoint.action
├── msg/
│   ├── BatteryInfo.msg
│   ├── GridLocation.msg
│   ├── OrientationPoses.msg
│   ├── RoverPoses.msg
│   ├── StatusLightCommand.msg
│   └── Waypoint.msg
└── srv/GeneratePlan.srv

urc_nanopb/
└── proto/urc.proto

Package moves in this refactor

Previous location	New location
urc_navigation/grid_map_utils	urc_nav_common
urc_navigation/path_planning	urc_path_planning
urc_navigation/nav_testing	urc_state_machine
urc_navigation/trajectory_following	urc_trajectory_following
urc_perception/src/GaussianFilter.cpp	urc_perception/src/gaussian_filter.cpp
urc_perception/include/GaussianFilter.hpp	urc_perception/include/urc_perception/gaussian_filter.hpp
urc_bringup/src/rocker_effort_pid.cpp	urc_controllers/src/rocker_effort_pid.cpp
urc_bringup/src/rocker_tf_broadcaster.cpp	urc_controllers/src/rocker_tf_broadcaster.cpp
urc_bringup/src/ground_truth.cpp	urc_localization/src/ground_truth.cpp
urc_bringup/src/heartbeat_publisher.cpp	urc_platform/src/heartbeat_publisher.cpp

Setup and development

• Native Ubuntu installation
• Docker installation
• Navigation architecture
• ROS 2 control integration
• Useful development commands
• Common troubleshooting issues

Run build and test commands from rover_ws, not rover_ws/src:

colcon build --packages-up-to <package_name> --symlink-install
colcon test --packages-select <package_name>
colcon test-result --verbose

Source install/setup.bash again after rebuilding. Package manifests are the source of truth for dependencies; use rosdep rather than maintaining a manual package list.