KroNton Robotics Academy
equalizerDifficulty: IntermediatecodeLanguage: SDF - gzsim - URDFscheduleTraining Hours: 39h 0m

Robot Modeling and Simulation

Build Your Robot in Simulation

ROS2Robot Modeling and SimulationRobot SimulationURDFXacroSDFGazeboRViz2
Robot Modeling and Simulation

Course Overview

Learn how a robot is described and simulated, from your first URDF file to a mobile robot driving around a simulated world. This course is for beginners in robotics and for ROS2 developers who want to build and test robots in simulation.

You'll learn by building: you create a robot model and a simulated environment, then connect them to ROS2. You finish with a final project.

What You'll Learn

  • Describe a robot in URDF: links, joints, and joint types.

  • Write a mobile robot model from scratch and convert it to Xacro.

  • Display and debug your robot in RViz2 with launch files, robot_state_publisher, and the RQT TF tools.

  • Understand how Gazebo is built (server, client, systems) and how it compares with other simulators.

  • Build simulation worlds with SDF: a ground plane, light, obstacles, and a custom room, and reuse models from Gazebo Fuel.

  • Spawn your URDF robot in Gazebo and drive it with the differential drive plugin.

  • Bridge ROS2 and Gazebo with ros_gz_bridge to control the robot from ROS2 and teleoperate it.

  • Add a LiDAR and an RGB Camera to the robot and view their data in RViz2.

  • Control a camera joint and add a moving obstacle to your world.

  • Turn a SolidWorks CAD design into a URDF model and run it in Gazebo.

Curriculum Explorer13 Sections • 84 Lessons • Training Hours: 39h 0m

hardware Requirements

  • ROS2 basics: Nodes, Topics, and launch files. The ROS2 Fundamentals course covers them.

  • Basic familiarity with the Linux Terminal is helpful.

  • Basic Python skills are helpful.

  • A computer with Ubuntu and ROS2 already installed. The ROS2 Basics course shows you how to set them up.

  • SolidWorks is optional and only needed to follow along with the CAD export lessons.

  • No prior experience with URDF or Gazebo is required.

Your Instructor

Kyrillos Fekry

Kyrillos Fekry

Senior Robotics Software Engineer

"Senior Robotics Software Engineer and Systems Architect with over Five years of experience leading the design, architecture, and production deployment of autonomous mobile robot platforms. Demonstrated ability to remotely lead cross-functional engineering teams, architect scalable robot software systems—from behavior engines and navigation stacks to CI/CD pipelines and mass-production workflows."

Robotics Engineering

8 Courses454 Students
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Certificate of Completion

Official industry-recognized credential upon finishing.

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