Visualise Perseus-Lite in RViz

This tutorial shows how to visualise the Perseus-Lite robot model in RViz2, allowing you to inspect the TF tree, joint orientations, and robot structure.

Prerequisites

  • Nix development environment set up

  • ROS 2 workspace built

  • Perseus-Lite packages installed

Steps

1. Enter the Development Environment

nix develop

2. Build the Workspace

Navigate to the ROS workspace and build the Perseus-Lite description package:

cd software/ros_ws
colcon build --packages-select perseus_lite_description

3. Source the Workspace

source install/setup.bash

4. Launch the Visualisation

Run the launch file with the nixgl wrapper for OpenGL support:

ros2 launch perseus_lite_description view_robot_nixgl.launch.py

What You’ll See

The launch file starts three components:

  1. Robot State Publisher - Publishes TF transforms based on the URDF model

  2. Joint State Publisher GUI - Provides sliders to manually control joint positions

  3. RViz2 - Displays the robot model and TF tree

In RViz2, you’ll see:

  • The Perseus-Lite robot model rendered with meshes

  • TF frames shown as axes (0.5m scale) with labels

  • A grid for spatial reference

  • Base axes indicator at the robot’s centre

Interacting with the Model

Use the Joint State Publisher GUI window to:

  • Move individual joints using the sliders

  • Verify joint rotation directions

  • Check joint limits and ranges

  • Test the rocker arm suspension movement

This visualisation is particularly useful for:

  • Debugging URDF joint definitions

  • Verifying coordinate frame orientations

  • Understanding the robot’s kinematic structure

  • Testing joint configurations before hardware deployment