Create® 3 Wall Follow
The Create® 3 robot exposes a ROS 21 action server to invoke a wall-following behavior.
You can command the robot to follow along an obstacle using the following ROS 2 action.
ros2 action send_goal /wall_follow irobot_create_msgs/action/WallFollow "{follow_side: 1, max_runtime: {sec: 1, nanosec: 0}}"
When this behavior is requested, the robot will try to engage with nearby obstacles and, after a successful engagement, it will start following the obstacle along the specified side until the maximum runtime is reached.
The follow_side can be specified as left (1) or right (-1) see the action interface for the implementation.
The robot will use a spiraling motion to try to engage with the obstacles.
The spiral will be clockwise if follow_side is left (1) or counter-clockwise if follow_side is right (-1).
Attention
**If your Create® 3 robot has additional equipment mounted on top, you need to ensure that the obstacles being followed have enough vertical clearance. **
This behavior won't take into account the potentially increased height of the robot, so it may get stuck and damage your equipment or furniture. If the obstacles you are trying to follow have gaps from the ground or low-hanging parts, it's required that the vertical clearance is either lower than the robot's base height (roughly 12 cm), such that the robot won't try to get underneath, or higher than the height of the robot, so that it will fully fit.