Amazon Warehouse holonomic robot does not turn on its center

[javizqh]

The Amazon Warehouse holonomic robot does not turn on its center as it drifts to one side each time it turns

[javizqh]

This is probably caused by Gazebo. This problem only happens if the robot has been comanded with a lineal speed. So probably the cause of this is the inertia inside the Gazebo Classic simulator, because changing the plugins, the friction and removing the physics engine did not solve it.

[PixelCraftLab]

Hi @javizqh !
I would like to work upon this issue to use my problem solving skills to solve in a efficient manner.
Thank you.

[javizqh]

We are migrating this robot to the new simulator right now. I think @lu164 is on it.

I think it is better to wait until we have the new versión to test if this still happens on Gazebo Harmonic

[muditjain2204]

Hi, I’d like to work on this issue.

I recently contributed documentation improvements to RoboticsInfrastructure
(PR #625). I’ll start investigating the cause of the holonomic robot not
rotating around its center.

Please let me know if that’s fine or if you have any guidance.

[muditjain2204]

I investigated the Amazon Warehouse robot configuration.

The URDF defines only two wheels (left/right), and the Gazebo configuration
uses a differential drive controller plugin (leftJoint/rightJoint with
wheelSeparation). This setup cannot support holonomic motion, which explains
why the robot does not rotate purely about its center.

Could you please confirm whether:

1. the robot is intended to be holonomic (and needs a different controller/model), or
2. the issue is about documentation/configuration mismatch?

Happy to work on a fix once the intended behavior is confirmed.