Biomass Simulation Resources

This package aims to centralize 3D simulation assets used by the Biomass Group at LARIS (Laboratory of Autonomous Robots & Intelligent Systems), UFSCar.

The main goal is to provide reusable, research-oriented 3D models and worlds that better represent real forest environments, with special focus on the Brazilian Cerrado.

Important

This branch is the solution for ROS 2. If you are using ROS Noetic, go to the ros-noetic branch: https://github.com/dederomagnolo/biomass-simulation-resources/tree/ros-noetic

Required versions

• Ubuntu: 24.04 (Noble)
• ROS 2: Jazzy
• Gazebo Sim: Harmonic (via ros_gz_sim)

What this package provides

• models/: main model library
• models/forest-gen-models/: additional forest assets, originally from kubja/gazebo-vegetation
• worlds/: Gazebo world files
• worlds/world_template_empty.world: empty template to create new worlds
• run-world: generic bash entrypoint to open worlds in Gazebo Sim

Running from root

This flow assumes you already have a working ROS 2 + Gazebo Sim setup on your machine.

1. Build from the repository root:

colcon build --symlink-install --packages-select biomass_simulation_resources

2. Source your workspace:

source install/setup.bash

3. Run a world:

rosrun biomass_simulation_resources run-world.sh world_jean

You can also pass:

• world name with extension:

ros2 run biomass_simulation_resources run-world world_template_empty.world

• absolute path to a .world file:

ros2 run biomass_simulation_resources run-world /absolute/path/to/world_jean.world

run-world automatically exports the required resource paths for models/, models/forest-gen-models/, and worlds/.

Create a new world

1. Copy the template:

cp worlds/world_template_empty.world worlds/my_new_world.world

2. Edit worlds/my_new_world.world and add your model://... includes.
3. Run it:

ros2 run biomass_simulation_resources run-world my_new_world

Docker (optional alternative)

If you are using Windows or prefer not to use your local ROS 2 installation, an optional Docker-based setup is available:

docker compose -f docker-compose.ros2.yml build --no-cache
docker compose -f docker-compose.ros2.yml run --rm ros2

Inside the container:

cd /simulation-ws
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install --packages-select biomass_simulation_resources
source /simulation-ws/install/setup.bash
ros2 run biomass_simulation_resources run-world world_jean