> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://clemson-autonomous-systems.gitbook.io/clemson-university-autonomous-systems/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://clemson-autonomous-systems.gitbook.io/clemson-university-autonomous-systems/multi-agent-development/turtlebot-multi-agent-slam/testing-explore-lite.md).

# Testing Explore-Lite

This page will provide a brief overview of my testing process for the explore-lite package.

{% hint style="danger" %}
Before you try to follow any of the instructions in this guide, make sure you have completed the steps in [Software Setup](/clemson-university-autonomous-systems/multi-agent-development/turtlebot-multi-agent-slam/software-setup.md). Otherwise, none of this will work, and you probably will get a few weird errors.
{% endhint %}

## Overview

Using the `multi-agent-mapping` repository, it is very easy to test the `explore-lite` package, as well as other cooperative mapping packages. This guide will specifically focus on the setup I have configured for the `explore-lite` package, but feel free to use this as a starting point for other mapping packages. To help simplify matters, I have created an `explore-lite` launch file in the repository that automatically starts the nodes on the turtlebots. However, there a few disclaimers to note:

1. At the time of this publication, I have not yet been able to configure the local costmaps of the robots. While the global costmaps seem to function normally, the turtlebots are not able to access the `/scan` messages and build their own local costmaps. Therefore, the `explore-lite` package circumvents this issue by subscribing to `/map` messages instead of looking for a specific costmap.
2. Similarly, I have not yet been able to create a launch file that launches rviz with the correct configuration files. Therefore, my workaround is to use `rosrun` in two additional terminals to launch rviz before I launch the `explore-lite` nodes.

I plan on fixing these issues later as we continue our research into multi-agent SLAM.

## Launching Explore-Lite

To launch `explore-lite`, you will need four terminals open on your system. Follow the below commands and `explore-lite`, along with `rviz`, should open on your machine. **Make sure that you are in your repository's directory before running these commands.**

```bash
# Terminal A
roslaunch multi-agent-mapping multi-agent-mapping.launch

# Terminal B
rosrun rviz rviz -d rviz/multi-agent-mapping.rviz

# Terminal C
rosrun rviz rviz -d rviz/multi-agent-mapping-2.rviz

# Terminal D
roslaunch multi-agent-mapping explore-lite.launch
```

With these commands ran, you should now see something similar to this on your computer screen. Additionally, the robots should begin moving and exploring more of the turtlebot house. On the left side of your screen, you will notice that the `rviz` window is subscribed to the individual maps. Meanwhile, on the right side of your screen, you will notice that the `rviz` window is subscribed to the global map that is being merged together. With this setup, you can visualize the progress that the robots are making on piecing together the global map. You can also begin to see where the overlapping scans are, which is useful for the `map-merging`node as it requires those to create a confident map.

![Do not worry about the terminal, I moved it there manually.](https://2257299444-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MDFWl6FJNNzxuDA_xAi%2F-MDN6tXY2nC-NdK-pPCf%2F-MDN7PJBWSb8AmetDdmo%2FScreenshot%20from%202020-07-28%2021-13-03.png?alt=media\&token=d68742bb-28d7-4911-9630-1e383c872f8b)