Autonomous Boat (ROS 2 + VRX)

Project for controlling an autonomous boat in simulation.

The project is made by ROS 2 framework, called boat_navigation and it is tested in VRX (Virtual RobotX) / Gazebo simulation.
The main idea is simple: the boat should go to a target position and try to avoid obstacles using a potential field controller.

What is inside

• ROS 2 node (C++): boat_controller_node
• Launch files (Python):
  • launch/boat_vrx.launch.py
  • launch/full_simulation.launch.py
• Uses VRX topics like:
  • /wamv/sensors/lidars/lidar_wamv_sensor/scan (LiDAR)
  • /wamv/sensors/gps/gps/fix (GPS)
  • /wamv/sensors/imu/imu/data (IMU)
  • Thrusters:
    • /wamv/thrusters/left/thrust
    • /wamv/thrusters/right/thrust

Requirements

This repo is a ROS 2 (ament_cmake) package. You need:

• ROS 2 installed (I used ROS 2 style build with colcon)
• VRX / vrx_gz package installed (VRX Gazebo)
• rviz2 (optional)

Dependencies from package.xml:

• rclcpp
• geometry_msgs
• nav_msgs
• sensor_msgs
• tf2
• tf2_geometry_msgs

Build (colcon)

Example workspace structure:

ws_boat/
  src/
    boat_navigation/   <-- this repository

Build:

cd ~/ws_boat
colcon build --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

Run

Option 1: Full simulation launch

This starts VRX + then starts my controller node with a small delay:

ros2 launch boat_navigation full_simulation.launch.py

You can also pass arguments (world/target), for example:

ros2 launch boat_navigation full_simulation.launch.py world:=scan_dock_deliver_task.sdf

Option 2: VRX + controller launch

ros2 launch boat_navigation boat_vrx.launch.py

How it works (very short)

• I read LiDAR + GPS + IMU.
• I compute a force:
  • attraction force to target
  • repulsion force from obstacles
• From that force I compute desired heading (yaw).
• Then I publish thrust commands to left/right thrusters (differential drive idea).

This is not perfect, but it works as a good simulation demo.

Screenshot

(Example screenshot from my simulation / RViz)