Demo Quick Reference¶

Step-by-step guide to launch the Carter warehouse simulation with Foxglove joystick teleop.

Prerequisites¶

Isaac Sim conda env activated: conda activate isaaclab
Isaac ROS container image built (one-time)
Foxglove Studio with the foxglove-joystick extension installed (drag .foxe onto the Foxglove window)

Step 1: Start Isaac Sim (Headless)¶

conda activate isaaclab
nohup bash ~/Documents/isaac-sim-scripts/headless-sample-scene.sh \
  > /tmp/isaac-sim-headless.log 2>&1 &

Wait for the scene to finish loading (~2 minutes). Check progress:

tail -f /tmp/isaac-sim-headless.log

Look for Isaac Sim Headless is loaded or physics-step messages to confirm it's ready.

To stop Isaac Sim, kill the python process by PID (not the bash wrapper):

# Find the PID
nvidia-smi --query-compute-apps=pid,name --format=csv,noheader | grep python3

# Kill it
kill <pid>

Step 2: Start the Isaac ROS Container¶

docker compose -f ~/workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/docker-compose.yml up -d

This auto-starts all ROS services:

Service	What it does
Foxglove bridge	WebSocket on port 8765
H.264 republisher	GPU video encoding
Teleop twist joy	Foxglove joystick input
Odom TF bridge	Publishes `odom` → `base_link` transform
Static map → odom	Identity transform for navigation
Cmd vel relay	Relays `/cmd_vel` → `/cmd_vel_raw`
Nav2	Full autonomous navigation stack

Verify services are running:

ros2 node list

You should see nodes like /foxglove_bridge, /bt_navigator, /controller_server, etc.

Step 3: Connect Foxglove¶

Open Foxglove Studio and connect to:

ws://localhost:8765

Or from a remote machine via Tailscale:

ws://100.101.214.44:8765

Joystick Teleop¶

Add a Joystick panel — it publishes to /joy, and the teleop_twist_joy node (auto-started by the container) converts it to /cmd_vel.

Joystick	Robot motion
Push up	Drive forward (1.0 m/s max)
Push down	Drive backward
Push left/right	Turn

Drive carefully

The Carter robot gets physically stuck on collision in Isaac Sim — it can't reverse out. Start with low speeds and avoid walls.

Other Useful Panels¶

3D — visualize lidar (/front_3d_lidar/lidar_points), TF tree, camera feed
Image — /front_stereo_camera/left/compressed_video
Publish — send /goal_pose for autonomous navigation (schema: geometry_msgs/msg/PoseStamped)

Shutting Down¶

Reverse order:

# 1. Stop the container (kills all ROS nodes)
docker compose -f ~/workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/docker-compose.yml down

# 2. Kill Isaac Sim (find the python process, not the bash wrapper)
nvidia-smi --query-compute-apps=pid,name --format=csv,noheader \
  | grep python3 | cut -d',' -f1 | xargs kill

Managing ROS Nodes¶

Check What's Running¶

# List all active nodes
ros2 node list

# Check a specific topic's publishers/subscribers
ros2 topic info /cmd_vel

Kill Nodes¶

Kill processes inside the container — don't kill the docker exec wrapper from the host.

# Kill a specific node (e.g. Nav2 stack)
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c \
  "pkill -9 -f 'controller_server|planner_server|bt_navigator|behavior_server|smoother_server|velocity_smoother|waypoint_follower|lifecycle_manager'"

# Kill a single node
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c "pkill -9 -f foxglove_bridge"

Note

After killing Nav2, wait ~30 seconds for DDS discovery to clear stale node registrations before relaunching.

Start Nodes¶

Each command runs from the host — copy-paste directly.

# Foxglove bridge
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c \
  "source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash && export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_fastrtps_cpp && \
   export FASTRTPS_DEFAULT_PROFILES_FILE=/etc/fastdds_no_shm.xml && \
   ros2 launch foxglove_bridge foxglove_bridge_launch.xml port:=8765 &"

# Odom TF bridge
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c \
  "source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash && export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_fastrtps_cpp && \
   export FASTRTPS_DEFAULT_PROFILES_FILE=/etc/fastdds_no_shm.xml && \
   python3 /workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/odom_tf_bridge.py &"

# Static map → odom transform
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c \
  "source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash && export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_fastrtps_cpp && \
   export FASTRTPS_DEFAULT_PROFILES_FILE=/etc/fastdds_no_shm.xml && \
   ros2 run tf2_ros static_transform_publisher 0 0 0 0 0 0 map odom \
   --ros-args -p use_sim_time:=true &"

# Cmd vel relay
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c \
  "source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash && export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_fastrtps_cpp && \
   export FASTRTPS_DEFAULT_PROFILES_FILE=/etc/fastdds_no_shm.xml && \
   python3 /workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/cmd_vel_relay.py &"

# Teleop joystick
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash -c \
  "source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash && export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_fastrtps_cpp && \
   export FASTRTPS_DEFAULT_PROFILES_FILE=/etc/fastdds_no_shm.xml && \
   ros2 run teleop_twist_joy teleop_node --ros-args \
   -p require_enable_button:=false -p axis_linear.x:=1 -p axis_angular.yaw:=0 \
   -p scale_linear.x:=-1.0 -p scale_angular.yaw:=1.0 &"

# Nav2 (autonomous navigation)
docker exec isaac_ros_dev_container bash /workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/launch_nav2.sh &

Troubleshooting¶

Problem	Fix
No topics visible	Isaac Sim not fully loaded yet — wait for physics step logs
Joystick not moving robot	Confirm `/joy` topic is being published: `ros2 topic echo /joy`. Check that the ROS2-fixed extension is installed (not the original)
TF errors in Foxglove	Check `odom_tf_bridge` and `static_transform_publisher` are running: `ros2 node list`
Robot stuck after collision	Restart Isaac Sim — the Carter can't reverse out of collisions
Nav2 goals not working	Ensure you use a Publish panel (not 3D panel's Publish Pose) with schema `geometry_msgs/msg/PoseStamped`