The Curiosity Mars Rover is controlled using a combination of the ROS2 topic-based control plugin and an action graph specifically designed for managing the rover's components such as wheels, mast arm, and tool arm. This graph has been generated with help of this isaac_ros2_utils package. Control system allows for seamless real-time control of the rover through ROS2 messages.
Once the control graph is running, the following ROS2 topics are available for controlling the rover:
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
/cmd_vel |
Controls the rover's linear and angular velocity. |
/curiosity_mars_rover/joint_command |
Sends joint control commands for the articulated components of the rover. |
/curiosity_mars_rover/joint_states |
Publishes the current state (positions, velocities) of the rover's joints. |
/arm_joint_trajectory_controller/joint_trajectory |
Commands the tool arm’s movement along a defined trajectory. |
/arm_joint_trajectory_controller/state |
Provides the current state of the tool arm trajectory controller. |
/mast_joint_trajectory_controller/joint_trajectory |
Commands the mast arm’s movement along a defined trajectory. |
/mast_joint_trajectory_controller/state |
Provides the current state of the mast arm trajectory controller. |
/dynamic_joint_states |
Publishes dynamic states of the rover’s joints (position, effort, velocity). |
/joint_states |
Provides the current state of all joints (positions, velocities, efforts). |
/steer_position_controller/joint_trajectory |
Controls the steering of the rover's wheels. |
/wheel_tree_position_controller/commands |
Sends position commands to the wheel controllers. |
/wheel_velocity_controller/commands |
Sends velocity commands to the wheel controllers. |