ROS programming without physical robot

Question

I am very new to ROS and have been trying to program something for a machine which is not physically available to me yet. I would like to find some kind of virtual machine (Simulation) in which I can complete the programming and then try it on the real machine whenever available. The issue is I have just read the basics of ROS and the only simulation I could find or understand was the turtlebot. Is there any way to somehow finish the scripts for node & topics that I need? The only way I can think of atm is just write them down (as in what needs to be published, who are publishers and subscribers) and then implement it when I have the physical machine but I would appreciate if someone could guide me in a better/optimal way of doing it...

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

If simulating physical conditions is not as important to you, you can try RViz and go through MoveIt! tutorials to try it with simulated robots, but if you want it to represent a more realistic scenario, use Gazebo, as mentioned in the answer by BTables.

Answer 2

If you want a more wholistic simulation environment for ROS your best bet is most likely Gazebo. ROS support is straight forward and it allows for actual simulation robotics/sensors vs. turtlebot that doesn't.