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First Simulation Run

End-to-end walkthrough: simulator → stand → plan → walk to a clicked goal. Should take ~10 minutes from a clean install.

What you'll see

By the end of this tutorial:

  • A Go2 (or Spirit) standing in Gazebo
  • A planning stack producing a global path you can re-target with a click in RViz
  • The local planner producing a 26-step body plan + footstep schedule
  • The robot walking along the path

0. Prep

You should have completed Installation and source install/setup.bash in every terminal.

1. Launch the simulator

ros2 launch quad_utils quad_gazebo.py gui:=true

ros2 launch quad_utils quad_mujoco.py

The quad_gazebo.py launch file accepts these parameters:

Param Default Purpose
robot_configs Single Go2 at origin JSON list of robots and their configs
gui false Show the Gazebo viewer
paused false Start paused
world flat.sdf Pick a world from quad_simulator/gazebo_scripts/worlds
live_plot false Auto-launch PlotJuggler
dash false Auto-launch the rqt dashboard
logging false Record a bag
obstacles [] JSON list of static obstacles
scenario none Named obstacle scenario
use_sim_time true Use Gazebo clock

Inspect the running processes:

ros2 node list | grep robot_1

2. Stand the robot

ros2 topic pub /robot_1/control/mode std_msgs/UInt8 "data: 1" --once

The robot ramps to its nominal stance. If it doesn't:

  • Check ros2 topic echo /robot_1/state/ground_truth --once — there should be a quaternion + 12 joint angles
  • Check ros2 topic hz /robot_1/joint_states — should report ≥ 500 Hz
  • Drop stand_kp in quad_utils/config/<robot>.yaml if the robot oscillates

3. Launch the planning stack

ros2 launch quad_utils quad_plan.py

Key params:

Param Default Purpose
reference gbpl Plan source — gbpl for global planner, twist for cmd_vel only
twist_input none keyboard, joy, or none
leaping true Allow flight phases in the global plan
logging false Record a bag

You should see in ros2 topic list:

  • /robot_1/global_plan
  • /robot_1/local_plan
  • /robot_1/foot_plan_continuous
  • /robot_1/foot_plan_discrete

4. Set a goal

Open RViz (auto-launched by quad_visualization.py or run manually with the provided RViz config), then use the Publish Point tool. Click somewhere on the terrain and the global planner picks it up via /clicked_point.

Alternatively, set a default goal via param:

ros2 param set /global_body_planner global_body_planner.goal_state "[5.0, 1.0]"

5. Walk

ros2 topic pub /robot_1/control/mode std_msgs/UInt8 "data: 2" --once

The robot tracks the local plan. To redirect, click a new goal in RViz and the global planner will replan toward it.

6. Drive with cmd_vel instead

For a hand-driven test:

ros2 run teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard \
  --ros-args --remap cmd_vel:=/robot_1/cmd_vel

Teleop keys:

   u i o
   j k l
   m , .
  • q/z — increase/decrease speed scale 10%
  • w/x — adjust linear only
  • e/c — adjust angular only

Troubleshooting

Robot collapses on stand

The most common cause is gain mismatch. Reduce stand_kp in the per-robot YAML. If joints jitter, reduce stand_kd.

NMPC reports Restoration_Failed

Reference is infeasible. Check the global plan is reachable, friction mu matches the simulation surface, and cmd_vel_scale isn't pushing past kinematic limits.

RViz crashes when using Publish Point

Known NVIDIA driver / interactive-marker issue. Use xrdp or set LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 for visualization-only sessions.

Robot drifts laterally on stand

IMU bias. With the robot at rest, run the calibration step in your platform's bringup sequence.

Next steps