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Target Setter — v1.0 (Legacy)

Overview

A semi-autonomous waypoint navigation system. Waypoints are placed on a touch-screen map (global frame) and sent to the robot over UDP at 10 Hz. The robot executes them sequentially using a P controller inside a ROS2 node, with a state machine managing navigation, pausing, and return behaviour.

Configuration

Requirements

  • ROS2 (Humble or later)
  • custom_messages package built in the same workspace
  • An Android phone with Wifi

Installation

To install the app:

  1. Open the provided .apk file
  2. Install the app (don't scan)

To configure ROS2 package:

  1. Copy the provided src directory inside r2_src into your workspace
  2. Build the package:
cd ~/ros2_ws
colcon build --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

Running

There is no launch file. Start each node manually in separate terminals.

source ~/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash
ros2 run <pkg> <node_name>

Run all the nodes inside different terminal. The port is set to 5050 by default.

How to Operate

  1. Add the field dimension first before adding waypoints.
  2. Bind the phone to the robot before sending.
  3. Send waypoints — tap the map to place waypoints, then press Send. The robot navigates to each one in order.
  4. Edit a waypoint — drag a waypoint on the map. Updates are applied immediately, even while the robot is moving.
  5. Delete / undo — use the app controls before the waypoints are executed.
  6. Return — press Return on the app. The robot immediately heads back to the last visited waypoint.

Features

  • Add waypoints by touch on a global-frame map
  • Edit waypoints in real time (mid-navigation)
  • Delete / undo waypoints from the app
  • Send all waypoints at once
  • Return to previous waypoint
  • P controller with speed saturation and velocity ramp-up
  • Stateful control (IDLE / NAVIGATE / RETURN / PAUSED)

Troubleshooting

Robot does not move after sending waypoints

  • Check that the UDP listener is running and receiving packets.
  • Verify /waypoint is being published: ros2 topic echo /waypoint
  • Check that /current_odom is being published by your driver node.

Robot moves in the wrong direction

  • Confirm the odometry frame matches the app's global frame. A mismatch here will cause the robot to navigate to the wrong position.
  • Check that the robot's initial pose at startup is (0, 0) or matches the app's origin.

Yaw is way off

  • Known issue. Check that the yaw from /current_odom is consistent with the direction the robot is physically facing.
  • Verify the quaternion-to-yaw conversion matches your odometry convention.

Robot overshoots or oscillates

  • Reduce K_P in robot_control.py.
  • Increase A_MAX gradually if the ramp-up is too slow and causing overshoot.

Robot stops short of the waypoint

  • The P controller has inherent steady-state error. Reduce ERROR_THRESHOLD or ARRIVAL_THRESHOLD to tighten accuracy.

Waypoint edit applies to the wrong waypoint

  • Known app-side bug. Restart the app and re-send waypoints as a workaround.

Robot gets stuck in PAUSED and never resumes

  • Check that _pause_robot is not being set externally without a corresponding resume() call.
  • Verify the odometry topic is still publishing — the timer callback depends on fresh pose data.

custom_messages not found at build

  • Make sure the custom_messages package is inside ~/ros2_ws/src and run colcon build again before sourcing.

Known Issues

  • Yaw error — heading is off
  • Residual position error — P controller leaves steady-state error near the target.
  • Waypoint edit bug — edits oapply to the wrong version of planning due to mistake on the app.
  • No emergency stop — not yet implemented on the app.
  • No launch file — nodes must be started manually.