Waypoint missions with NAV2

We have the robot UI working and can give single Pose Goals, now lets try to link different goals and actions together to make an autonomous mission.

Look into nav2_waypoint_follower, which should work better with dumb robot, smart dispatcher. The docs here suggest to use nav2_behavior_tree instead for more complex behaviour and to do stuff like check robot battery in between waypoints.

Waypoint Follower configuration guide is here.

Not to be confused is the Route Server. This is a plugin for navigating routes through a pre-defined Navigation graph, rather than through free space. Think of a robot that should only travel on certain highways in a factory.

The more complex is Behaviour-Tree Navigation which can now be visualised with a tool called GROOT. For more docs see here.

Oh well, can use Groot as an Editor but it no longer features live monitoring: Github Issue. Even in newer versions of ROS2, live visualisation is an expensive Pro feature.

Anatomy of a Waypoint Mission

So I’m thinking first we need to create a map of the apartment, then load that in. I guess if we assume we always start missions on the dock, then SLAM would also work, but for now a static map seems like a good idea. Still have costmaps for obstacle avoidance.

But what is launched by the different launch files in NAV2 bringup?

Launch File	Map Server	Localization (AMCL)	SLAM	Nav2 Core	RViz	Use Case
`bringup_launch.py`	✅	✅	❌	✅	Optional	Full navigation with pre-made map
`navigation_launch.py`	❌	❌	❌	✅	Optional	Nav stack only, external localization
`localization_launch.py`	✅	✅	❌	❌	Optional	Localization only
`slam_launch.py`	❌	❌	✅	✅	Optional	Mapping + navigation
`rviz_launch.py`	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	Visualization only
So plan is as follows:

Map the environment and save the map using slam toolbox.
Run bringup_launch.py version of NAV2, and don’t run slam toolbox.
Set an initial Pose using Rviz on the docking station location then monitor the value of /initialpose.
/initialpose is then passed every time the robot wakes up.
The /map frame will be consistent each time so we can add waypoints.
Maybe can add a button to the UI called start mapping mode, which has a separate launch file.

August 9, 2025 ∙