Week 8

in Blog

GSOC Coding Week 8 Progress Report

Week 8: Migrating the Environment to ROS2

This week marked a major milestone in the project — I have fully migrated the simulation environment from the old Machine Vision exercise (ROS1 + MoveIt1) into the new ROS2 + MoveIt2 framework. This completes the core infrastructure setup and ensures that the updated exercise is fully compatible with the Robotics Academy’s current system.

What I Did This Week

  • Environment migration completed:
    • Converted all launch files, configuration files, and dependencies to ROS2 standards
    • Updated URDF/Xacro files and robot description packages to ensure compatibility
    • Verified that the UR5 robot, Robotiq gripper, and simulation world load correctly in Gazebo with ROS2 controllers
  • System validation:
    • Ran tests to confirm that all sensors and topics are publishing in ROS2
    • Checked integration between Gazebo, MoveIt2, and RViz2
    • Ensured that the environment is ready for functional API integration

Environment Migration Demo

Why This Matters

The migration lays the foundation for all future functionality. With the environment stable in ROS2, I can now start bringing the exercise’s core functions — vision processing, object localization, and pick-and-place execution — into the new system.

Next Steps

For Week 9, I will begin migrating and testing the old exercise’s functional code into the ROS2 environment:

  • Port vision processing and object detection algorithms
  • Integrate point cloud data into the perception pipeline
  • Connect perception outputs to motion planning and grasp execution

📍 Posted from Barcelona, Spain
🧠 Project: Migration and Enhancement of Machine Vision Exercise to ROS2 + MoveIt2