frontier_exploration_ros2

frontier_exploration_ros2 is an open-source autonomous exploration package for occupancy-grid-based mobile robots. It detects frontiers on the boundary between known free space and unknown space and drives the robot so that it systematically maps its surroundings until frontiers are exhausted.

The package extends the classic wavefront frontier detection (WFD) backbone with decision-map optimization before detection and target ordering based on the Minimum Ratio Traveling Salesman Problem (MRTSP) formulation. Two solver modes are available: greedy matrix traversal and a bounded-horizon dynamic programming solver that searches a short route ahead and dispatches only the first target, then replans as the map evolves.

Written in modern C++, it integrates with Nav2 (navigation goals are dispatched through Nav2) and exposes a reusable C++ core library for custom integrations. It has been validated on Ubuntu 24.04 / ROS 2 Jazzy and Ubuntu 22.04 / ROS 2 Humble, with Gazebo Harmonic, Slam Toolbox and a TurtleBot3 Waffle Pi robot. In the reported warehouse comparison, the dynamic programming configuration reduced travel distance by 22.1% and exploration time by 24.7% relative to m-explore_ros2.

The package is authored by Mert Güler and Erkan Uslu (Yıldız Technical University); it is developed as open-source software under the Apache 2.0 license.