Hi everyone 
I’m excited to share RQt Virtual Joystick — a lightweight RQt plugin for ROS 2 that turns your mouse and keyboard into a responsive joystick for robot teleoperation and simulation.
It’s built for smooth, continuous control — perfect for prototyping, testing, and sim environments when a physical joystick isn’t available.
Key Features
-
Mouse & Keyboard Control — drag the on-screen joystick or use arrow keys -
Dual Publishing — sensor_msgs/Joy+geometry_msgs/Twist -
Holonomic Drive — strafe with Shift for omni robots -
Configurable — dead zones, response curves, publish rate, topics -
User-Friendly — auto-save settings, collapsible panels, live feedback
Learn more & download (post):
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/abdelrahman-mahmoud-9aa21812b_ros-ros2-rqt-activity-7379629000891125760-EXnm
Source code (GitHub):
https://github.com/amgaber95/rqt_virtual_joystick
Feedback and testing are very welcome! Tell me what features you’d like next — or how it performs with your setup.
ros2 rqt robotics teleoperation #OpenSource simulation
