With Gazebo 6 it is possible to add meta data to the visuals in your simulation. This tutorial explains how to add layer meta data to visuals so you can control which layers are visible via the graphical interface.
Currently, layers are identified by numbers. In your model SDF file, under
each <visual>
tag, you can add a <meta>
tag for meta information and
then a <layer>
tag with the layer number as follows:
<visual name='visual_0'>
<meta>
<layer>0</layer>
</meta>
...
</visual>
Visuals without a layer assigned can't have their visibility toggled and will always be visible.
An example world is distributed with Gazebo. You can load this world using the following command:
gazebo worlds/shapes_layers.world
You can toggle the visibility of each layer via the Layers
tab on the left panel:
If no visuals on the simulation have a layer, the layers tab will be empty.