Making a Map on the Real Robot

Start mapping

Instead of launching the robot with bwi_launch, run this launch file:

V2:

roslaunch segbot_navigation robot_with_gmapping_v2.launch

V3:

roslaunch segbot_navigation robot_with_gmapping_v3.launch

This will bring up the necessary tools to create the map and visualize it as it's being computed.

In order to driver the robot around you must also run the keyboard teleoperation node,

rosrun segbot_bringup teleop_twist_keyboard

Robot tele-operation and saving maps

While you are mapping, you will have to teleoperate the robot manually. Plug an external USB keyboard into the computer and use the teleoperation script to get control of the robot:

rosrun segbot_bringup teleop_twist_keyboard

It's generally not possible for gmapping to do loop closures over large areas. Try to complete the map in small areas with small loops. Continuously save the map using the map_saver script:

rosrun map_server map_saver -f mapname

This will produce 2 files: mapname.pgm and mapname.yaml. Save subsequent maps with different filenames, as you might have to manually stitch maps later by hand.