turtlebot amcl hydro rapp scenario -- goal position

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I have a problem with my Turtlebot and amcl, but I don't know exactly how to describe it. I am working on a project that uses programming elements to direct a turtlebot from a remote computer over an internet connection. I use rosbridge server to direct the turtlebot. I can, for instance, perform simple tele-op in this way. I also want to remotely start the gmapping and amcl functions. I can use gmapping to make a map, and then in amcl load the map and even track it on rviz. That is where I have my problem. I can give amcl my start position, and then when I give it the goal position it doesn't go to the new place.

I have gone through the turtlebot howto demos online. I can do all the three functions teleop, mapping, and amcl. In the demos in amcl I can set the start position, the goal position, and watch my turtlebot move from one to the other. I have used the launch file from amcl_demo.launch as the basis for my own launch file.

In my application there is a central launch file called 'app_manager.launch'. It starts the app manager application. I then launch the amcl launch file as a rapp. This way I can launch an amcl rapp, a gmapping rapp, or a teleop rapp. The topic names for the rapps are all converted to '/app_manager/application/name' where 'name' is the name of the original topic. This means I have to send all my messages to '/app_manager/application/name' not '/name'. The name of my catkin package is 'tele_presence'. (My python code in 'tele_presence' minimal.launch loads maps and saves maps to the mongodb instance...)

This is my 'app_manager.launch' file. It's part of my 'tele_presence' package.

<launch>

  <arg name="rapp_lists" default="tele_presence/tele_presence_apps.rapps"/> 
  <include file="$(find tele_presence)/launch/includes/app_manager_rocon.launch.xml">
    <arg name="rapp_lists" value="$(arg rapp_lists)" />
  </include>

  <include file="$(find rosbridge_server)/launch/rosbridge_websocket.launch"/>
</launch>

This is my 'navigate.launch' file. It's part of the 'navigate' rapp.

<launch>

  <include file="$(find turtlebot_bringup)/launch/minimal.launch"/>
  <include file="$(find tele_presence)/launch/minimal.launch"/>

  <include file="$(find turtlebot_bringup)/launch/3dsensor.launch">
    <arg name="rgb_processing" value="true" />
    <arg name="depth_registration" value="false" />
    <arg name="depth_processing" value="false" />

    <!-- We must specify an absolute topic name because if not it will be prefixed by "$(arg camera)".
Probably is a bug in the nodelet manager: https://github.com/ros/nodelet_core/issues/7 -->
    <arg name="scan_topic" value="/app_manager/application/scan" />
  </include>


  <!-- Map server -->
  <include file="$(find tele_presence)/launch/manage_map.launch"/>

  <arg name="initial_pose_x" default="0.0"/> <!-- Use 17.0 for willow's map in simulation -->
  <arg name="initial_pose_y" default="0.0"/> <!-- Use 17.0 for willow's map in simulation -->
  <arg name="initial_pose_a" default="0.0"/>
  <include file="$(find turtlebot_navigation)/launch/includes/amcl.launch.xml">
    <arg name="initial_pose_x" value="$(arg initial_pose_x)"/>
    <arg name="initial_pose_y" value="$(arg initial_pose_y)"/>
    <arg name="initial_pose_a" value="$(arg initial_pose_a)"/>
    <arg name="use_map_topic" value="true"/>

  </include ...