movensys-navigation Setup

Set up the movensys-navigation stack once before running any of the navigation scenarios. Like the manipulator examples, the scenarios run inside a Docker container; the host only needs the environment variables, network tuning, and the cloned repository described below. Commands run inside the container through the nros helper (the navigation counterpart of mros).

1. Host environment

Add the following to your ~/.bashrc (source it afterwards). The variables select the ROS distro, the build flavor, the CPU architecture, and the robot model, and define the nros helper used to run commands inside the container.

export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=73                         # use any number
export ROS_DISTRO=jazzy                         # {jazzy, humble}
export MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION=isaac-ros_4.1       # {isaac-ros_4.1, isaac-ros_3.2, general}
export CPU_ARCH=amd64                           # {amd64, arm64}
export NAVIGATION_MODEL=diffbot                 # {diffbot}

export HOST_USER_UID=$(id -u)
export HOST_USER_GID=$(id -g)
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedds_cpp

export MOVENSYS_NAVIGATION_PACKAGES=~/workspaces/movensys_ws/src/movensys-navigation
export ISAAC_ROS_WS=~/workspaces/isaac_ros-dev

nros() {
  if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
    docker exec -it -u admin movensys_navigation_container \
      bash -lc 'source /opt/ros/${ROS_DISTRO}/setup.bash && source /home/admin/workspaces/movensys_ws/install/setup.bash && exec bash -i'
  else
    docker exec -it -u admin movensys_navigation_container \
      bash -lc "source /opt/ros/\${ROS_DISTRO}/setup.bash && source /home/admin/workspaces/movensys_ws/install/setup.bash && $*"
  fi
}

Allow the container to reach the host X server and reload the shell:

xhost +local:docker
source ~/.bashrc

2. CycloneDDS network buffers

Raise the kernel socket-buffer limits so the CycloneDDS RMW can carry the odometry, laser scan, and image traffic without drops:

sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-network-buffers.conf << 'EOF'
net.core.rmem_max=67108864
net.core.rmem_default=67108864
net.core.wmem_max=67108864
net.core.wmem_default=67108864
EOF

sudo sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/99-network-buffers.conf
sysctl net.core.rmem_max net.core.rmem_default net.core.wmem_max net.core.wmem_default

3. Clone the repository

mkdir -p ~/workspaces/movensys_ws/src
cd ~/workspaces/movensys_ws/src
git clone git@github.com:movensys/movensys-navigation.git

4. Build and start the container

Note

For the isaac-ros_* build flavors, complete the Isaac ROS getting-started setup first (the release-3.2 and release-4.1 guides match MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION=isaac-ros_3.2 / isaac-ros_4.1).

The compose files combine the ROS-version layer with the per-architecture navigation layer:

cd ${MOVENSYS_NAVIGATION_PACKAGES}/docker
docker compose -f ${MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION}.yaml -f movensys_navigation.${CPU_ARCH}.yaml down
docker compose -f ${MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION}.yaml -f movensys_navigation.${CPU_ARCH}.yaml build
docker compose -f ${MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION}.yaml -f movensys_navigation.${CPU_ARCH}.yaml up -d

Follow the container startup logs:

docker logs movensys_navigation_container -f

5. Enter the container

All scenario commands run through nros, which executes inside the movensys_navigation_container. Open an interactive shell:

nros

Verify the build by launching the robot description in RViz:

nros ros2 launch movensys_navigation_description movensys_navigation_rviz.launch.py

For HIL mode, the base is brought up with WMX R2 (see wmx-r2/doc/launch_<NAVIGATION_MODEL>_navigation.md and Install WMX R2 Package).

Note

Isaac Sim scenes

The Simulation and HIL modes load USD scenes in NVIDIA Isaac Sim. See NVIDIA Isaac ROS Setup (Optional) for the Isaac Sim installation and the scene layout.