Distro	Build dev	Release
ROS 2 Humble (u22.04)
ROS 2 Jazzy (u24.04)
ROS 2 Kilted (u24.04)
ROS 2 Lyrical (u26.04)
ROS 2 Rolling (u26.04)

EOL Distro	Last version
ROS 2 Iron (u22.04)

mrpt_navigation

This repository provides packages that wrap functionality in the Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit (MRPT) related to localization and navigation. MRPT SLAM and sensor access are wrapped into other ROS repositories.

The latest SLAM framework, whose maps are compatible with this repository for localization, is MOLA.

Documentation for each package

All packages follow REP-2003 regarding ROS 2 topic QoS.

Related to localization:

• mrpt_map_server: A node that loads a ROS standard gridmap or an MRPT or MP2P_ICP map and publishes it to a (set of) topic(s).
• mrpt_pf_localization: A node for particle filter-based localization of a robot from any kind of metric map (gridmap, points, range-only sensors, …).

Related to sensor pipelines:

• mrpt_pointcloud_pipeline: A node that maintains a local obstacle map from recent sensor readings, including optional point cloud pipeline filtering or processing. For example,
  • For 3D LIDARs, to filter by a volume or area, downsample the number of points, etc.
  • For 2D laser scanners, to keep a memory of obstacles that get out of the sensor field of view.

Related to autonomous navigation:

• mrpt_reactivenav2d: Deprecated, use mrpt_trajectory_follower with mrpt_tps_astar_planner instead. A pure reactive navigator for polygonal robots on 2D worlds.
• mrpt_tps_astar_planner: A path planner based on PTG trajectories using A* in a SE(2) lattice.

Others:

• mrpt_tutorials: Launch and configuration files for the various examples provided for the other packages.
• mrpt_msgs_bridge: C++ library to convert between custom mrpt_msgs messages and native MRPT classes
• mrpt_nav_interfaces: Definition of msgs, srvs, and actions used by the other packages.

General documentation

• ROS wiki: http://wiki.ros.org/mrpt_navigation
• Compiling instructions: http://wiki.ros.org/mrpt_navigation/Tutorials/Installing
• Usage examples and tutorials: http://wiki.ros.org/mrpt_navigation/Tutorials
• Branches:
  • ros2: The most recent, active branch for modern ROS 2 distributions.
  • ros1: Intended for ROS 1. No further development will happen there.

Individual package build status

Package	ROS 2 Humble BinBuild	ROS 2 Jazzy BinBuild	ROS 2 Kilted BinBuild	ROS 2 Lyrical BinBuild	ROS 2 Rolling BinBuild
mrpt_map_server
mrpt_msgs_bridge
mrpt_nav_interfaces
mrpt_navigation
mrpt_pf_localization
mrpt_pointcloud_pipeline
mrpt_reactivenav2d
mrpt_tps_astar_planner
mrpt_trajectory_follower	not released yet	not released yet	not released yet	not released yet	not released yet
mrpt_tutorials

Each cell shows one badge per OS and architecture: Ubuntu amd64 and arm64, plus RHEL and Fedora x86_64 where the distro targets them.

Navigation demo and tests

A* planning (mrpt_tps_astar_planner) + path following (mrpt_trajectory_follower) + localization (mrpt_pf_localization) in the mvsim simulator. Set goals with RViz “2D Goal Pose”:

ros2 launch mrpt_tutorials demo_astar_trajectory_follower_gridmap.launch.py \
    robot:=ackermann speed_limit:=1.0

• robot: ackermann (car-like) or diffdrive (Jackal-like, which can also rotate in place: its plans may include rotations, which the follower executes by stopping there).
• speed_limit [m/s]: 0 for the platform max speed. It can be changed at run time with ros2 param set /mrpt_trajectory_follower speed_limit 2.0.

The follower publishes geometry_msgs/Twist on topic_cmd_vel_pub, or geometry_msgs/TwistStamped (frame frame_id_robot) with the launch argument cmd_vel_stamped:=True, as expected by many ROS 2 Jazzy robots (e.g. those using twist_mux or diff_drive_controller with stamped commands).

A Foxglove layout equivalent to the RViz setup is in mrpt_tutorials/foxglove/astar_demo.json (import it from the Foxglove layout menu, with foxglove_bridge running).

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