Jarabot Simulator – ROS 2 Humble Mobile Robot Simulator

Author

Yonguk Cho Robotics Developer / ROS 2 Engineer Creator of Jarabot Simulator

Jarabot Simulator is an open-source ROS 2 Humble mobile robot simulator designed for LiDAR simulation, Odometry estimation, TF broadcasting, SLAM testing, and Navigation2 development using RViz2.

This project provides a full ROS 2 workspace that replicates the software architecture and kinematics of a real differential-drive mobile robot (Jarabot), enabling developers, students, and researchers to test and validate ROS2 navigation and perception algorithms without physical hardware.

Keywords: ROS2 Simulator, Mobile Robot Simulator, LiDAR, RViz2, Odometry, TF, SLAM, Navigation2

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Overview

Image of the actual JaraBot

Image of the Jarabot simulator operating in RViz

Jarabot Simulator reproduces core mobile robot components in ROS 2, including:

• 2D LiDAR sensor simulation
• Encoder-based odometry integration
• TF tree broadcasting (odom → base_link)
• Differential drive motion model
• RViz2-based visualization (Marker, Path)
• Keyboard-based teleoperation

It is suitable for ROS2 education, algorithm validation, and pre-deployment testing before running on real robots.

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Workspace Structure

This repository follows the standard ROS 2 colcon workspace layout:

jarabot_sim_ws
├── src
│   ├── jarabot_sim
│   │   ├── src
│   │   ├── launch
│   │   ├── CMakeLists.txt
│   │   └── package.xml
│   ├── jarabot_sim_interfaces
│   │   ├── msg
│   │   ├── CMakeLists.txt
│   │   └── package.xml
│   ├── jarabot_sim_rviz.png
│   └── README.md
├── build
├── install
└── log

• src/ : Source packages
• build/ : Build artifacts generated by colcon
• install/ : Installed packages and environment setup
• log/ : Build and runtime logs

Packages

1. jarabot_sim

Main simulation package containing runtime nodes.

Node	Description
jara_sim_lidar	Virtual 2D LiDAR publisher
jara_sim_encoder	Motor and encoder simulation
jara_sim_odometry	Odometry integration
jara_sim_marker	RViz2 Marker visualization
jara_sim_path	Trajectory (Path) recording
jara_keyboard	Internal keyboard controller

Note: teleop_twist_keyboard publishes velocity commands on /cmd_vel, which are internally mapped to the simulator command interface.

2. jarabot_sim_interfaces

Custom message definitions used by the simulator.

Message	Description
Cmd	Velocity and rotation command
Ecd	Encoder feedback data

Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04
• ROS 2 Humble
• RViz2

Prerequisites & Required Packages

The following packages are required to build and run Jarabot Simulator on a laptop with Ubuntu 22.04 and ROS 2 Humble already installed.

System Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04
• ROS 2 Humble (base or desktop installation)

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Required ROS 2 Packages

These packages are mandatory for running the simulator:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install \
ros-humble-rviz2 \
ros-humble-teleop-twist-keyboard \
python3-colcon-common-extensions

• rviz2 : Visualization of robot, LiDAR, TF, and markers
• teleop_twist_keyboard : Keyboard-based robot control
• colcon : Build tool for ROS 2 workspaces

Recommended Packages (Optional but Useful)

The following packages are not strictly required, but are recommended for debugging, visualization, and future extensions (SLAM / Navigation2):

sudo apt install \
ros-humble-tf2-tools \
ros-humble-navigation2 \
ros-humble-nav2-bringup \
ros-humble-slam-toolbox

• tf2-tools : TF tree inspection and debugging
• navigation2 : Autonomous navigation stack
• slam-toolbox : 2D SLAM integration

Installation

mkdir -p ~/jarabot_sim_ws/src
cd ~/jarabot_sim_ws/src

git clone https://github.com/playros/jarabot-simulator.git .

Build

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

Running the Simulator

Terminal 1 – Simulator

source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch jarabot_sim jarabot_simulator.launch.py

Terminal 2 – Keyboard Teleoperation

source install/setup.bash
ros2 run teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard

Terminal 3 – RViz2

source install/setup.bash
rviz2

Keyboard Controls (teleop_twist_keyboard)

Key	Action
i	Move forward
,	Move backward
j	Rotate left
l	Rotate right
k	Stop
q / z	Increase / decrease max speed
w / x	Increase / decrease linear speed
e / c	Increase / decrease angular speed
Ctrl + C	Exit

Published Topics

Topic	Type	Description
/scan	sensor_msgs/LaserScan	Simulated LiDAR data
/odom	nav_msgs/Odometry	Robot pose (odom frame)
/tf	TF	odom → base_link transform
/cmd	jarabot_interfaces/Cmd	Velocity command
/ecd	jarabot_interfaces/Ecd	Encoder feedback
/jara_robot_marker	Marker	RViz2 robot visualization

RViz Visualization

Architecture Notes

• Differential drive kinematics
• Encoder-integrated odometry
• Standard ROS 2 message interfaces
• Compatible with Navigation2 and SLAM toolchains

Roadmap

• Navigation2 integration examples
• SLAM Toolbox / Cartographer demos
• Gazebo interoperability
• Unified real-robot and simulator workflow

License

MIT License

Search Visibility Statement

If you are looking for a ROS 2 mobile robot simulator with LiDAR and RViz2, Jarabot Simulator provides a clean, realistic, and extendable reference implementation suitable for education, research, and real-robot development.

Jarabot Simulator (also known as jarabot-simulator or jarabot simulator)