Hi all!

I wonder where to start to set up a simple navigation that runs without 
move_base, in particular a global path planner. For a start, a simple A* 
on a static map should suffice. From what I've read, costmap_2d and 
navfn should provide the right functionality, but do they without a 
running robot? They seem to be tightly coupled with move_base and 
constant sensor updates.

I tried just running costmap_2d_node, setting static_map: true and 
map_type: costmap. The remainder of the example configuration file in 
the costmap node stayed unchanged. After publishing a static tf from 
/map => base_link the node requests the map from the map server, I see 
"[DEBUG] 1270726860.099638000: Map update time: 0.000677000", and that's 
it. I would have expected to get an obstacle map as depicted in 
http://www.ros.org/wiki/costmap_2d, but 
/costmap_node/costmap/inflated_obstacles (and the other published 
topics) are never sent out. Is there something obvious missing?

Are there any starting points or tutorials dealing with path planning 
alone (i.e. just the global planner)? Does that work with just a static 
map on a node level at all, or should I write my own using the APIs of 
navfn and costmap_2d?

Thanks & best regards,
Armin

-- 
Armin Hornung                              Albert-Ludwigs-Universität
www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~hornunga   Dept. of Computer Science
HornungA@informatik.uni-freiburg.de        Humanoid Robots Lab
Tel.: +49 (0)761-203-8010                  Georges-Köhler-Allee 79
Fax : +49 (0)761-203-8007                  D-79110 Freiburg, Germany