🐢 TurtleBot Desktop Development Container (with noVNC)

This repository provides a ready-to-use Docker-based ROS 2 Humble development environment for Windows and Linux machines (amd based systems) for TurtleBot3 simulation and development.

It includes:

• ROS 2 Humble preinstalled with navigation, SLAM, teleop, Gazebo, and visualization packages
• VS Code Dev Container configuration with useful extensions
• Integrated noVNC support for GUI access from your browser
• Persistent build and install caches for faster rebuilds

Whether you're running on Linux, macOS, or Windows, this container lets you start working with TurtleBot development in minutes.

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📦 Prerequisites

• Docker (with your user in the docker group)
• Visual Studio Code
• Dev Containers extension

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🔧 Setup Instructions

1. Clone the Repository

git clone --branch main --single-branch https://github.com/RobotTeaching/UON-CS-robotlab-simulation-container.git

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2. Start the noVNC Service

Before opening the devcontainer, make sure the shared Docker network and noVNC service are running.

Run:

cd ~/UON-CS-robotlab-simulation-container/src/.devcontainer/
./start_vnc.sh start

This will:

• Create a ros Docker network if it doesn't exist
• Launch a theasp/novnc:latest container mapped to http://localhost:8080

Once running, open:

➡ http://localhost:8080/vnc.html and click Connect to access the container’s desktop GUI.

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3. Open in VS Code

Launch VS Code → open the src/ directory → press Ctrl+Shift+P → select:

Dev Containers: Reopen in Container

VS Code will now build and launch the ROS 2 development container, automatically attaching it to the ros network so it can reach the noVNC container.

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4. Test the Setup

Inside the VS Code terminal:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 topic list

If ROS 2 is installed correctly, you’ll see a list of topics (or an empty list if nothing is publishing).

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🛠 Troubleshooting & Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Permission denied: docker	Add your user to the docker group: sudo usermod -aG docker $USER && newgrp docker
Gazebo spawn service failed	Don’t Ctrl+C — let it fail completely, then close and restart.
Cannot connect to noVNC	Run ./start_novnc.sh status to check if the container is running.
Unable to create file [..]: Filename too long on clone	Run git config --system core.longpaths true in a administrator terminal.
ASLA error or any other gazebo error	Press Ctrl + Shift + P, choose Reopen folder locally and then again Ctrl + Shift + P and mow choose Rebuild and Reopen in container

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💡 Notes

• Default user inside container: team-beta
• Workspace is mounted to /home/ros2_ws/src
• Network: ros (shared between devcontainer and noVNC container)
• GUI apps (RViz2, Gazebo) accessible via browser at http://localhost:8080/vnc.html
• Includes:
  • Navigation2, SLAM Toolbox, Teleop
  • Gazebo + plugins
  • Cartographer, RViz2
• VS Code extensions preinstalled for:
  • ROS
  • C++
  • Python
  • Git integration

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