ANVEL-ROS: THE INTEGRATION OF THE ROBOT OPERATING SYSTEM WITH A HIGH-FIDELITY SIMULATOR

The objective of this research was to survey and evaluate simulators for use with unmanned ground vehicles and extend the functionality of the ANVEL simulator to include the robot operating system (ROS). The goals of the research were first to determine how the ANVEL simulator would compare to four other currently available simulators on four criteria: physical fidelity, functional fidelity, ease of development, and cost. The second goal was the development of an ANVEL-ROS bridge to expand the robot control functionality in ANVEL. The ANVEL-ROS bridge developed was verified using two robots, Turtlebot2 and Jaguar V4. RViz, a ROS visualization tool, was used to confirm sensor output correctness. Robot control in ANVEL was confirmed using tele-operation through ROS commands.