Audibot Simulator

This repository contains a Gazebo simulation model of an Audi R8. It is meant to be a very flexible simulation platform that supports single and multiple vehicle simulations.

To customize the model, include audibot.urdf.xacro in the audibot_description package in another URDF file and add sensors, plugins, etc.

single_vehicle_example.launch in the audibot_gazebo package shows how a single vehicle can be simulated in the root namespace with no TF prefix.

two_vehicle_example.launch shows how multiple vehicles can be simulated at the same time, with each in its own namespace and with a unique TF prefix.

To control the vehicle, publish the following topics:

• steering_cmd - std_msgs/Float64 topic containing the desired steering wheel angle in radians
• brake_cmd - std_msgs/Float64 topic containing the desired brake torque in Newton-meters (Nm)
• throttle_cmd - std_msgs/Float64 topic containing the desired throttle percentage (range 0 to 1)
• gear_cmd - std_msgs/UInt8 topic containing the desired gear (DRIVE = 0, REVERSE = 1)

Ground truth speed and yaw rate feedback are provided on the twist topic, which is of type geometry_msgs/TwistStamped.

Current gear state is provided on the gear_state topic, which is of type std_msgs/UInt8. The gear state starts in DRIVE by default.

The current steering wheel angle is provided on the steering_state topic, which is of type std_msgs/Float64.

Position, orientation and twist is provided on the odom topic, which is of type nav_msgs/Odometry.

Some useful kinematics parameters:

• Gear ratio between steering wheel and equivalent bicycle steer angle = 17.3 : 1
• Wheelbase = 2.65 meters
• Track width = 1.638 meters
• Wheel radius = 0.36 meters