Overview#

Web visualization supports rendering and interacting with running Gazebo simulations. You may find web visualization useful when interacting with remote or headless Gazebo Sim simulations. No additionally dependencies, other than a browser and internet connection, are required.

How to use web visualization#

The following steps will guide you through the process of running Gazebo with a websocket server and connecting to the websocket for visualization.

  1. Start an Gazebo Sim instance as usual. We will use the fuel.sdf world and run it headless.

gz sim -v 4 -s -r fuel.sdf

  1. Create an Gazebo Launch file with the websocket server plugin.

echo "<?xml version='1.0'?>
<gz version='1.0'>
  <plugin name='gz::launch::WebsocketServer'
          filename='gz-launch-websocket-server'>
    <port>9002</port>
  </plugin>
</gz>" > websocket.gzlaunch

  1. Run the websocket server using

gz launch -v 4 websocket.gzlaunch

  1. Visualize the simulation by going to https://app.gazebosim.org/visualization and pressing the Connect button.

  2. It may take a few seconds for the scene to load. Your browser needs to fetch all of the models in the world.

Websocket server customization#

The following parameters are available in the websocket server plugin.

  • <admin_authorization_key> : If this is set, then a connection must provide the matching key using an “auth” call on the websocket. If the <authorization_key> is set, then the connection can provide that key.

  • <authorization_key> : If this is set, then a connection must provide the matching key using an “auth” call on the websocket. If the <admin_authorization_key> is set, then the connection can provide that key.

  • <max_connections> : An integer that is the maximum number of simultaneous connections.

  • <port> : An integer that is websocket port.

  • <publication_hz> : An integer that is the maximum publication hertz rate.

Code and Support#

  1. The code for the web application, app.gazebosim.org, lives at gazebo-web/gazebosim-app.

  2. The javascript library used to render the 3D scene lives at gazebo-web/gzweb.

  3. Is you notice an issue with web visualization, then please file a ticket at gazebo-web/gzweb#issues.

Troubleshooting#

  1. If you are running Gazebo Sim in a docker container, make sure to use the –network host Docker commandline option. Without --network host the web application won’t be able to connect to the websocket server.