🧭 Multi-Map Navigation with ANSCER A100 AMR

This repository demonstrates multi-map, multi-room autonomous navigation using wormhole-based transitions on the AR100 robot by Anscer Robotics, tested in a custom multi-room environment.

🎥 Click to view full video demo

🧰 Prerequisites

• OS: Ubuntu 20.04
• ROS: ROS Noetic
• Editor: VSCode
• Build System: Catkin

⚙️ Setup & Installation

1. Install AR100 simulation
   Follow the instructions from the official Anscer AR100 repository.

2. Replace with Custom World

   • Use the provided World/ folder (3-room setup).
   • Replace map.pgm and map.yaml in anscer_navigation/maps/ with map1.pgm and map1.yaml from this repo and rename them to the default names.

Custom simulation setup

🚀 How to Run

1. Clone this Repository

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/jerinpeter/ar100-multimap-nav.git

2. Build the Package

cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin_make
source devel/setup.bash

3. Launch the Navigation Server

roslaunch multi_map_nav navigation_server.launch

Note: Ensure anscer_navigation is running before launching the navigation server.

4. Send a Navigation Goal

You can publish a goal manually using rostopic:

rostopic pub /navigate_to_goal/goal multi_map_nav/NavigateToGoalActionGoal "header:
  seq: 0
  stamp: {secs: 0, nsecs: 0}
  frame_id: ''
goal_id:
  stamp: {secs: 0, nsecs: 0}
  id: ''
goal:
  target_x: -6.0
  target_y: -4.0
  target_map: 'map2'"

You can also publish a goal using the PyQT GUI

rosrun multi_map_nav LaunchUi.py

specify the map name as well as the target x and y coordinates

🗃️ Database Structure

The SQLite database stores all wormhole connections:

CREATE TABLE wormholes (
  from_map TEXT,
  to_map   TEXT,
  from_x   REAL,
  from_y   REAL
);

Sample Entries

from_map	to_map	from_x	from_y
map1	map2	-7.8	1.2
map2	map1	-7.8	1.0
map1	map3	8.5	2.5
map3	map1	8.5	2.5

🛠️ Custom Action Definition

NavigateToGoal.action

# Goal
float64 target_x
float64 target_y
string target_map

---
# Result
bool success
string message

---
# Feedback
string feedback_msg

🔍 System Architecture

🧠 WormholeManager

• Connects to SQLite DB to retrieve wormhole data.
• Computes direct/indirect transitions between maps.
• Enables seamless planning across environments.

🗺️ MapSwitcher

• Loads .pgm/.yaml map files.
• Dynamically controls map_server for each transition.
• Resets localization when switching.

🚦 NavigationServer

• Custom ROS Action Server.
• Accepts goal with target (x, y) and map name.
• Decides if direct move_base call is enough or wormhole is needed.

🔄 Navigation Flow

Step 1: Receive Goal

Receives:

• Coordinates (x, y)
• Target map name

Step 2: Evaluate

• If goal is in current map → directly use move_base.
• Else → use wormhole path planning.

🌀 Transition Scenarios

🟢 Direct Transition

1. Go to wormhole in current map.
2. Switch map.
3. Continue to target.

Heading to wormhole (map2 → map1)

Map1 activated, final goal reached

🔁 Indirect via Hub (e.g. map1)

1. Navigate to hub.
2. Switch to next wormhole.
3. Go to final location.

Routing via map1 (hub)

Map3 → map1 → map2 transition

Final goal reached

✨ Features

• 🛣️ Wormhole navigation across rooms/maps
• 💾 SQLite for persistent wormhole mapping
• 🔄 Dynamic map switching using map_server
• ⚙️ Full integration with move_base
• 🛰️ Actionlib interface for goal delivery
• 🧩 Modular architecture for scalability

⚠️ Limitations & Future Work

• Orientation of the robot is always set to M_PI/2 which creates akward transistion between wormholes and the rooms.
• Can be solved by echoing current orientation and stopping at that, wait for map switch then continue navigation.
• Can add validity check for the waypoints, Even though the robot navigates to the correct room/map, I have not implemented a logic to check if the given coordinates are inside the map (not out of bounds).
• Can add Preemption handling, In the current implementation, if a goal is given another one can't be given until this is finished

✅ Assignment Checklist

Requirement	Status
1. Video Demonstration	✅ Yes
2. C++ Source Code	✅ Yes
3a. Key files listed	✅ Yes
3b. Build & launch instructions	✅ Yes
3c. Algorithm explained	✅ Yes
3d. Unimplemented parts mentioned	✅ Yes

📦 Repository Summary

• navigation_server.cpp — Handles navigation requests & manages transitions
• map_switcher.cpp — Switches map using map_server
• wormhole_manager.cpp — Loads DB & determines routes
• launch/ — Startup configurations
• media/ — Simulation images
• README.md — You’re reading it!

This project provides a modular and scalable framework for multi-environment navigation using ROS and SQLite, ideal for smart facilities, research robots, or warehouse AMRs.