I've used the move_base_flex package as a replacement for move_base to do similar testing with local planners on pre-defined global paths. With the default move_base setup (i.e., what is explained in the basic navigation tutorials), you have access to a single action (MoveBase.action), which consists of your current pose and a desired goal.

In move_base_flex, additional actions are exposed (namely, GetPath.action, ExePath.action, and Recovery.action). So if you wanted, you could just directly send the move_base_flex action server an ExePath.action (which would contain an array of poses defining the global path), and the mbf navigation server would use that global path with the local planner you have specified.

Just developing a bit previous answer. If you check ExePath action, the only field you need to fill is:

nav_msgs/Path path

That is, set path.header.frame_id to your poses reference frame and path.poses with a list of geometry_msgs/PoseStamped messages. You can generate the paths with whatever mathematic function you want, just calculating x, y and yaw. Pose can be separated by nearly every distance; DWA local planner is not picky about following sparse paths. I use something in the 10cm order.

UPDATE

This script mentioned by @aarontan looks like a good starting point: changing it to call /move_base_flex/exe_path action server with the generated path should be trivial.

Another possible solution to your problem would be to write your own global planner as a plugin for the move_base node. There is a tutorial that will walk you through the process here.

I haven't tried either approach yet so I can't say whether this would be easier or harder to do that get move_base_flex working.

hello, we are having problems creating custom global planner and using move_base_flex. How can I contact you? linkedin, email, github etc...