CARLA Base Controller

This repository provides a collection of ROS packages for controlling a vehicle in the CARLA simulator.

Project Goal

The primary goal of this project is to develop a robust base_controller for an autonomous vehicle in the CARLA simulator. This controller is not intended to be the primary driving system but rather a safety-critical fallback mechanism. In a real-world scenario, a more advanced main controller, such as a Model Predictive Controller (MPC), would handle the primary driving tasks. However, if the main controller malfunctions or fails, the CARLA_base_controller is designed to take over, ensuring the vehicle can maintain a safe state, such as following a predefined safe path or coming to a controlled stop. This provides a crucial layer of redundancy and safety for the autonomous driving system.

Packages & Features

This repository is a ROS workspace containing the following packages:

1. carla_pid_controller

A simple PID controller to regulate the vehicle's longitudinal speed.

Usage:

rosrun carla_pid_controller pid_controller

Topics:

• Publishes: /carla/ego_vehicle/vehicle_control_cmd (carla_msgs/CarlaEgoVehicleControl)
• Subscribes: /carla/ego_vehicle/vehicle_status (carla_msgs/CarlaEgoVehicleStatus)
• Debug Topics: /pid_controller/target_speed, /pid_controller/current_speed

Result:

---

2. pure_pursuit_controller

An implementation of the Pure Pursuit algorithm for lateral control and path tracking. It includes a basic version and an advanced version with more stable PID control for speed.

Usage:

roslaunch pure_pursuit_controller pure_pursuit.launch

Note: The launch file runs the pure_pursuit_controller_advanced node by default.

Parameters (pure_pursuit.launch):

• csv_file: Path to the CSV file containing the waypoints.
• odom_topic: Vehicle's odometry topic.
• control_topic: Vehicle's control command topic.
• wheelbase: Vehicle's wheelbase.
• target_speed: Target speed for the vehicle.
• lookahead_k: Lookahead gain.
• min_lookahead_distance: Minimum lookahead distance.
• pid_kp, pid_ki, pid_kd: PID gains for the speed controller.

Result:

---

3. velocity_planning

A node to generate a smooth velocity profile for a given path, considering curvature and acceleration limits.

Usage:

rosrun velocity_planning velocity_planning

Topics:

• /goal_odometry: Publishes the goal odometry.
• /steering_angle: Publishes the calculated steering angle.
• /goal_marker: Publishes a marker for the goal point in RViz.
• /target_speed: Publishes the target speed.
• /path_marker_array: Publishes markers for the path in RViz.

Result:

Prerequisites

• CARLA Simulator (version 0.9.13)
• ROS 1 Noetic
• ROS-Bridge for CARLA
• carla-ros-msgs

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/CARLA_base_controller.git

2. Build the packages:

   cd CARLA_base_controller
   catkin_make

3. Source the workspace:

   source devel/setup.bash

Final Report

This repository was developed as part of a graduation project. The final report provides a detailed overview of the project, including the design, implementation, and results of the controllers.

View the Final Report (PDF): (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HFOjPboisc_poEx3CZaeLitN4R9pTad-/view?usp=sharing)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.