Simulator Launches with No World or Vehicle with Ros 2 Jazzy and GZ Harmonic

[eddiem3]

Description: I am trying to launch the Leo Rover Gazebo simulator using the command:

ros2 launch leo_gz_bringup leo_gz.launch.py

However, the simulator launches without displaying the world or vehicle model. The terminal outputs multiple errors related to missing .dae files for the robot model. Specifically, it fails to find files for the Chassis, Antenna, Rocker, and Wheel models. Below is a part of the output:

[GUI] [Err] [SystemPaths.cc:425] Unable to find file with URI [model://leo_description/models/Chassis.dae]
[GUI] [Err] [SystemPaths.cc:525] Could not resolve file [model://leo_description/models/Chassis.dae]
[GUI] [Err] [MeshManager.cc:211] Unable to find file [model://leo_description/models/Chassis.dae]
[GUI] [Err] [SceneManager.cc:426] Failed to load geometry for visual: leo1/base_footprint_fixed_joint_lump__leo1/base_link_visual
...
[GUI] [Err] [SystemPaths.cc:425] Unable to find file with URI [model://leo_description/models/WheelB.dae]
[GUI] [Err] [SystemPaths.cc:525] Could not resolve file [model://leo_description/models/WheelB.dae]
[GUI] [Err] [MeshManager.cc:211] Unable to find file [model://leo_description/models/WheelB.dae]

Despite having installed the ros-jazzy-leo-gz-worlds package via apt, which contains the models, it seems that Gazebo is unable to find or load the required .dae files for the vehicle models. The world file appears to be correctly installed, but no models or visuals are displayed in the simulator.

Steps to Reproduce:

Install the required package via apt:

sudo apt install ros-jazzy-leo-simulator ros-jazzy-leo-gz-worlds

Launch the simulation:

    ros2 launch leo_gz_bringup leo_gz.launch.py

Expected Behavior: The simulator should display the world and the Leo Rover model correctly.

Observed Behavior: The world loads, but no vehicle or environment visuals are shown. The terminal displays multiple errors about missing .dae files.

Additional Information:

OS: Ubuntu 24.04
ROS 2 Distro: Jazzy
Gazebo Version: 8

Any guidance on resolving the missing model files or other potential issues would be appreciated.

[OdakK]

Same problem here, seems the leo-description package is missing but even after installing it using :

sudo apt install ros-<distro>-leo-description

It's still not working

[CarlosMagni]

I agree, same problem here

[bjsowa]

@jasiex01 Could you look at it?

[jasiex01]

It appears that there is a problem with how environmental variables are being linked with apt repository versions of our packages. A temporary solution for that problem would be to add Gazebo environmental variables manually after installing simulation packages and sourcing ros:

source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash

Enviornmental variable for plugins:

export GZ_SIM_SYSTEM_PLUGIN_PATH=/opt/ros/jazzy/lib

Environmental variable for robot model and worlds:

export GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=/opt/ros/jazzy/share:/opt/ros/jazzy/share/leo_gz_worlds/worlds:/opt/ros/jazzy/share/leo_gz_worlds/models

Other solution would be to build the leo_simulator-ros2 and leo_common-ros2 packages from source on the jazzy branch as the hooks in local workspaces work correctly.

I will keep you updated on when a permanent solution has been implemented.