ESIBOT: Autonomous Mobile Robot Platform

A comprehensive ROS2-based autonomous mobile robot system combining real-time hardware control, multi-sensor fusion, computer vision, and a modern web-based monitoring dashboard.

Project Overview

ESIBOT is an autonomous mobile robot system developed at ESI (École Supérieure d'Informatique). The platform integrates:

• Real-time Hardware Control: Direct serial communication with robot motors and actuators
• Multi-Sensor Fusion: IMU (MPU-6050), Ultrasonic Radar (360°), and encoder odometry
• Camera Integration: Raspberry Pi camera stream processing with OpenCV
• Navigation & Localization: TF2-based coordinate frame management and odometry calculation
• Modern Dashboard: React-based web UI for real-time robot monitoring and control
• ROS2 Ecosystem: Built on ROS2 Humble for reliability and modularity

---

System Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Web Dashboard (React)                │
│              (Real-time monitoring & control)           │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
        ┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
        │              │              │
   ┌────▼─────┐  ┌────▼────┐  ┌─────▼──────┐
   │ROS Bridge│  │ROS Nodes│  │Launch Files│
   │(WebSock) │  │(Python) │  │            │
   └────┬─────┘  └────┬────┘  └─────┬──────┘
        │             │              │
   ┌────▼─────────────▼──────────────▼────┐
   │          ROS2 Middleware (DDS)       │
   └────┬─────────────┬──────────────┬────┘
        │             │              │
   ┌────▼──┐  ┌──────▼──────┐  ┌───▼────┐
   │Sensors│  │Hardware Ctrl│  │Camera  │
   │       │  │             │  │        │
   ├──────┤  ├─────────────┤  ├────────┤
   │IMU   │  │Motor Driver │  │RPi Cam │
   │Radar │  │Serial Link  │  │OpenCV  │
   │Encode│  │GPIO         │  │Stream  │
   └──────┘  └─────────────┘  └────────┘

---

Project Structure

ROS2 Workspace: esibot_ws/

esibot_ws/src/
├── esibot_bringup/
│   ├── esibot_driver.py          # Main hardware interface & odometry
│   ├── launch/
│   │   └── esibot_driver.launch.py
│   └── Publishes: /odom, /tf, /battery
│
├── esibot_camera/
│   ├── esircam_node.py            # Raspberry Pi camera stream bridge
│   ├── launch/
│   │   └── esibot_camera.launch.py
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── camera_params.yaml
│   └── Publishes: /camera/image_raw, /camera/compressed
│
├── esibot_sensor/
│   ├── mpu_node.py                # MPU-6050 IMU (Accel + Gyro)
│   ├── encoder_node.py            # Wheel encoder odometry
│   ├── radar_node.py              # 360° Ultrasonic radar
│   ├── radar_node_360.py          # Multi-sensor radar variant
│   ├── mpu_odom.py                # IMU-based odometry fusion
│   ├── launch/
│   │   └── radar.launch.py        # Integrated sensor launch with RViz
│   ├── config/
│   │   ├── esibot_sensor.yaml
│   │   ├── radar_params.yaml
│   │   ├── config.rviz
│   │   └── radar.rviz
│   └── Publishes: /imu, /radar, /odom
│
├── esibot_description/
│   ├── urdf/
│   │   └── esibot.urdf.xacro      # Robot kinematic model
│   ├── launch/
│   │   └── rsp.launch.py          # Robot state publisher
│   └── Publishes: /tf, /joint_states
│
├── esibot_ui/
│   └── dashboard_node.py          # Backend dashboard service (WIP)
│
└── esibot_vision/
    └── vision_node.py             # Computer vision pipeline (WIP)

---

## Hardware Requirements

| Component | Specification | Purpose |
|-----------|--------------|---------|
| **Main Controller** | Raspberry Pi 4/5 | Robot brain (ROS2 runtime) |
| **Motor Driver** | Custom/L298N | DC motor PWM control |
| **Sensors** | MPU-6050 | 6-axis IMU (accel + gyro) |
| | HC-SR04 Array | Ultrasonic distance sensors (360°) |
| | Wheel Encoders | Odometry feedback |
| **Camera** | Raspberry Pi Camera V2 | Vision/monitoring |
| **Serial Link** | USB/UART | Hardware communication |
| **Power** | Battery pack | Robot power supply |

---

## Software Prerequisites

### System Requirements
- **OS**: Ubuntu 22.04+ (ROS2 Humble compatible)
- **ROS2**: Humble distribution
- **Python**: 3.10+
- **Node.js**: 18+ (for dashboard)

### Install ROS2 Humble

```bash
# https://docs.ros.org/en/humble/Installation.html
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
# [Follow official ROS2 Humble installation guide]

Install Build Tools

sudo apt install -y \
  build-essential \
  cmake \
  git \
  colcon \
  python3-dev \
  python3-pip

Install Runtime Dependencies

sudo apt install -y \
  python3-serial \
  python3-pip \
  rviz2 \
  ros-humble-tf2-ros

pip3 install \
  opencv-python \
  numpy \
  requests \
  mpu6050-raspberrypi \
  RPi.GPIO

Install Dashboard Dependencies

cd dashboard/esibot-ui
npm install

---

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url> ~/esibot_project
cd ~/esibot_project

2. Set Environment Variables

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=10
export ROS_DISTRO=humble

# Source ROS setup
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

3. Initialize ROS2 Workspace

cd esibot_ws
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

---

Building the Project

Build All Packages

cd esibot_ws
export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=10
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

Build Specific Package

# Example: Build only bringup package
colcon build --packages-select esibot_bringup

# Build with verbose output
colcon build --packages-select esibot_sensor --verbose

Clean Build (if needed)

rm -rf build install log
colcon build

---

Running Components

Terminal 1: Source Environment

cd ~/esibot_project/esibot_ws
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=10
source install/setup.bash

Launch Robot Driver (Hardware Interface)

ros2 launch esibot_bringup esibot_driver.launch.py

Launch Sensors & Visualization

# With RViz (recommended for development)
ros2 launch esibot_sensor radar.launch.py

# Headless (without RViz)
ros2 launch esibot_sensor radar.launch.py use_rviz:=false

Launch Camera Stream

ros2 launch esibot_camera esibot_camera.launch.py

Launch Robot Description & TF Tree

ros2 launch esibot_description rsp.launch.py

Launch Dashboard UI

cd dashboard/esibot-ui
npm run dev -- --host 
# Dashboard available at http://localhost:5173

---

Technology Stack

• Frontend Framework: React 19+
• Build Tool: Vite
• Styling: TailwindCSS
• ROS Integration: ROSlib (WebSocket bridge)
• Authentication: Supabase Email/Password + Google OAuth
• Visualization: ROS2D, EaselJS
• Routing: React Router v7

---

Team Members

ESIBOT is developed by a dedicated team at ESI (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Informatique).

Project Team

Role	Name
Team Leader	BADAOUI Ikram
Member	SAIDI Selma
Member	HIMEUR Idris
Member	DIAR Adem
Member	CHATTAH Salsabila
Member	MARMOUZE Nor Elhouda
Member	BERKAT Cheraz

Institution

École Nationale Supérieure d'Informatique (ESI)

License

Apache 2.0

---

Last Updated: 2026-06-24 | ROS2 Version: Humble