🐢 Meet the TurtleBot2
The TurtleBot2 is a compact and beginner-friendly mobile robot platform widely used for education, research, and rapid prototyping in robotics. It is designed around a differential-drive base and integrates computing, sensing, and power into a robust yet accessible system.
It provides an affordable, open-source platform for learning autonomous navigation, mapping, computer vision, and human-robot interaction using ROS (Robot Operating System).
🌟 Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Mobile Base | Kobuki differential-drive base with wheel encoders |
| Sensors | 3D depth camera (e.g., Asus Xtion / RealSense), IMU, cliff & bumper sensors |
| Compute | Laptop-based, allowing flexible CPU/GPU selection |
| Battery | Built-in Kobuki battery powering both base and compute via docking support |
| Software | Fully supported in ROS 1 (e.g., Noetic), partial community support in ROS 2 |
| Navigation Ready | Works with SLAM, AMCL, move_base, and mapping frameworks |
| Expandability | Mounting plates for additional sensing, manipulators, or payloads |
🏗️ System Architecture
The TurtleBot2 follows a modular design that separates mobility, compute, and sensing:
+---------------------------------+
| Onboard Computer | <-- Runs ROS, SLAM & navigation algorithms
+---------------------------------+
|
| USB
v
+---------------------------------+
| Kobuki Drive Base | <-- Motor drivers, odometry, safety sensors
+---------------------------------+
|
v
Motion + Sensor Feedback
The onboard computer communicates with the Kobuki base and sensors, exposing control and perception data to ROS topics.
🧠 What You Can Do With It
The TurtleBot2 platform is suited for:
- SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping)
- Autonomous indoor navigation
- Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) experiments
- Multi-agent planning and coordination
- Computer vision + depth sensing
- Reinforcement learning deployment to real mobile robots
🧰 Learning Resources
- Official TurtleBot2 Docs: https://turtlebot.github.io/turtlebot2/
- Kobuki Base Documentation: https://kobuki.readthedocs.io/
- ROS Navigation Stack: http://wiki.ros.org/navigation
- SLAM Tutorials: http://wiki.ros.org/slam_gmapping
🧑🔬 In Our Lab
In the RAIL Lab, the TurtleBot2 is commonly used to:
- Teach new students ROS fundamentals
- Demonstrate navigation and mapping in indoor spaces
- Prototype new autonomous navigation strategies
- Run perception-based navigation experiments
If you're new to the lab, the TurtleBot2 is an excellent first robot to learn on before transitioning to larger or more complex platforms.