Tag Archives: ROS

Installing Exploration package for Groovy and Turtlebot

Posted on by | Leave a reply

I created a repository that will contain my new packages:

rosinstall ~/ros /opt/ros/groovy/
echo "source ~/ros/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc 
source .bashrc

Do a checkout manually of the sources:

svn co https://svn.code.sf.net/p/bosch-ros-pkg/code/trunk/stacks/exploration ~/ros/exploration

There is an broken link to btVector3 in the following file: ~/ros/exploration/explore/include/explore/explore_frontier.h

Just change the line

#include <LinearMath/btVector3.h>

to

#include <tf2/LinearMath/btVector3.h>

Then you can build the project:

rosmake exploration

Before running explore, launch turtlebot and gmapping:

roslaunch turtlebot_bringup turtlebot.launch
roslaunch turtlebot_navigation gmapping_demo.launch

To run the explore node, run this command line:

roslaunch ~/ros/exploration/explore_stage/explore.xml

Installing TurtleBot For EMD

Posted on by | Leave a reply

On the Turtlebot:

1- update via apt-get

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

2- fix ip address

ip: 10.1.161.xx
gateway: 10.1.1.1
netmask: 255.255.0.0
Proxy: 10.1.1.3:8080

3- update ros

sudo apt-get install python-rosdep
rosdep update

4- install ros-turtlebot:

 sudo apt-get install ros-groovy-turtlebot ros-groovy-turtlebot-apps ros-groovy-turtlebot-viz

5- Install Chrony

sudo apt-get install chrony

6- manually sync NTP

sudo ntpdate 10.1.1.2

7- modify the file

/etc/chrony/chrony.conf with the correct ntp: add the line "server 10.1.1.2"
you can comment the other servers.

On the workstation

1- Install Chrony

 sudo apt-get install chrony

2- manually sync NTP

sudo ntpdate 10.1.1.2

3- fix ip address

ip: 10.1.161.xx
gateway: 10.1.1.1
netmask: 255.255.0.0
Proxy: 10.1.1.3:8080

4- install:

sudo apt-get install ros-groovy-turtlebot ros-groovy-turtlebot-apps ros-groovy-turtlebot-viz
. /opt/ros/groovy/setup.bash
rosrun kobuki_ftdi create_udev_rules
echo "source /opt/ros/groovy/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

Then on robot computer: 

echo export ROS_MASTER_URI=http://IP_OF_TURTLEBOT:11311 >> .bashrc
echo export ROS_HOSTNAME=IP_OF_TURTLEBOT >> .bashrc
source .bashrc

Then on workstation:

echo export ROS_MASTER_URI=http://IP_OF_TURTLEBOT:11311 >> .bashrc
echo export ROS_HOSTNAME=IP_OF_WORKSTATION >> .bashrc
source .bashrc

Verification:

on turtlebot:

1- the topics:

 rostopic list

>>I had an error, so I did:

sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install ros-groovy-actionlib
sudo apt-get install ros-groovy-rosgraph
roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch

>>Then, reexecute the line, it should work:

rostopic list

2- the environment:

echo $ROS_MASTER_URI
rostopic echo /diagnostics
echo $ROS_HOSTNAME

on workstation:

rostopic list
rostopic echo /diagnostics

Last verification:

on workstation:

rostopic pub -r10 /hello std_msgs/String "hello"

on turtlebot:

rostopic echo /hello

The message “hello” begin printed about 10 times a second.

 

Finally

All works now, you can run this line on the robot (I desactivated the automatic launch of the turtlebot nodes)

roslaunch turtlebot_bringup turtlebot.launch

Sometimes, this does not work. Just finish the process (Ctrl-C) and rerun it. Sometimes, I do that 3 or 4 times before it works.

To run the camera and 3d sensors, run this line:

roslaunch turtlebot_bringup 3dsensor.launch

On the workstation, you can open the diagnostic panel:

rqt -s kobuki_dashboard

Now, you can play with Turtlebot tutorials:

  • http://www.ros.org/wiki/turtlebot_bringup/Tutorials/groovy/3D%20Visualisation
  • http://www.ros.org/wiki/turtlebot_teleop/Tutorials/Keyboard%20Teleop
  • http://www.ros.org/wiki/turtlebot_navigation/Tutorials/Autonomously%20navigate%20in%20a%20known%20map

Some other tips:

VMWare:

I installed ROS on a VMWare 5, Ubuntu 12.04.
Due to the generic drivers, RViz does not work well. You have to add this line in your .bashrc:
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1
I also change the file /etc/ld.so.conf.d/GL.conf (not sure it has an impact): I removed the term “mesa” in the file (not the line, only the word).

Building the map:

To build the map, do not launch 3dsensor before.

 

 

Installation of ROS on OSX Montain Lion

Posted on by | Leave a reply

This documentation is based on: http://www.ros.org/wiki/fuerte/Installation/OSX/Homebrew/Source.  Only the three points in red are different from the official documentation.

Start by installing Homebrew and configuring the environment to use Homebrew.

Requirements

Install Homebrew

You can install Homebrew, after satisfying the requirements, by running this script in a terminal:

ruby <(curl -fsSkL raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)

Once the installation is completed update Homebrew to ensure the latest sources:

brew update

Prepare Environment for Homebrew

You will need to add these lines to your ~/.bash_profile to have Homebrew be at the front of the PATH.

export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH

export PYTHONPATH=”/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages:/usr/local/lib/python:$PYTHONPATH”

In order for the above changes to take effect reopen the terminal or run this command:

source ~/.bash_profile

Add the ROS Fuerte Homebrew Tap

Execute the following line to add the official ROS Fuerte Homebrew repository (“tap” in Homebrew terminology).

brew tap ros/fuerte

Bootstrapping

In order to install the first part of ROS some system dependencies need to manually be satisfied.

Env Setup

export ROS_OS_OVERRIDE=osx:homebrew

Python Dependencies

Change the permissions of your Python, Ruby, and Perl library directories to prevent the need for sudo when running pip. This is recommended by the Homebrew developers, but not strictly necessary.

sudo chown -R $USER /Library/Ruby /Library/Perl /Library/Python

Install pip and setup tools from easy_install:

easy_install pip
easy_install setuptools

Install the PyYAML dependency by executing the lines below:

brew install libyaml
pip install -U PyYAML

Install Mercurial:

pip install mercurial

Install some Catkin Python Dependencies:

pip install -U empy nose

Homebrew Dependencies

Install some other dependencies for the Catkin based ROS stacks to be installed:

brew install cmake
cd /usr/local && git checkout 57665ff /usr/local/Library/Formula/boost.rb
brew install boost
cd /usr/local/Library/Formula && curl -O https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/ac18935be50d603a64363ba9104b91c643992dce/Library/Formula/gtest.rb
brew install gtest
brew install log4cxx
brew install qt

To install swig-wx :

git clone –branch 1.3.29_fuerte git://github.com/ros/swig-wx.git /Library/Caches/Homebrew/swig-wx–git
2) cd /Library/Caches/Homebrew/swig-wx–git/
3) ./configure
4) make
5) make install

Binary Dependencies

Install wxPython by downloading and installing the binary distribution from their development website: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/wxpython/wxPython2.9-osx-2.9.4.0-cocoa-py2.7.dmg

At least Mountain Lion has problems with package format. After mounting the image you have to run

sudo installer -pkg /Volumes/wxPython2.9-osx-2.9.4.0-cocoa-py2.7/wxPython2.9-osx-cocoa-py2.7.pkg/ -target /

After installing wxPython from the binary, you need to add this line to your ~/.bash_profile in order for ROS to find it:

export PATH=/usr/local/lib/wxPython/bin:$PATH

Make sure to make the changes take effect:

source ~/.bash_profile

Install the nVidia CG toolkit for rViz by download their installation package: http://developer.download.nvidia.com/cg/Cg_3.1/Cg-3.1_April2012.dmg

rosinstall

The core ROS libraries and tools are installed into /opt/ros/fuerte. The higher-level ROS libraries are simply built using rosmake, which is familiar to users of previous versions of ROS. The higher-level ROS stacks are downloaded and built in inside the ~/ros directory.

First install rosinstall, rospkg and rosdep:

sudo pip install -U rosinstall
sudo pip install -U rospkg
sudo pip install -U rosdep

Install core libraries

The following instructions will create a system install of the core ROS libraries and tools. The installation is done using standard CMake/make tools, so experts can adjust to their liking.

rosinstall –catkin ~/ros-underlay http://ros.org/rosinstalls/fuerte-ros-full.rosinstall

Build and install the underlay into /opt/ros/fuerte:

cd ~/ros-underlay mkdir build cd build

Before running cmake, change the source code of the file: ~/ros-underlay/ros_comm/utilities/xmlrpcpp /src/XmlRpcSocket.cpp. Replace MSG_NOSIGNAL by 0. MSG_NOSIGNAL is a proprietary Linux manifest (i.e. it is non-posix/Xopen). Just replace it with 0 (the number 0).

Now, run cmake.

cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/ros/fuerte -DSETUPTOOLS_DEB_LAYOUT=OFF

Finally, build and install the code:

make -j8
sudo make install

Verify the installed environment:

. /opt/ros/fuerte/setup.sh
which roscore

You should see:

/opt/ros/fuerte/bin/roscore

You can delete ~/ros-underlay now, if you wish. The ROS core libraries are now installed onto your system.

Higher-level robotics libraries and tools

Desktop-Full Install: ROS Full, rviz, robot-generic libraries, 2D/3D simulators, navigation and 2D/3D perception

rosinstall ~/ros “http://packages.ros.org/cgi-bin/gen_rosinstall.py?rosdistro=fuerte&variant=desktop-full&overlay=no”

Environment Setup

You’ll now need to update your environment. You can do this by typing:

source ~/ros/setup.bash

It’s convenient if the ROS environment variables are automatically added to your bash session every time a new shell is launched, which you can do with the command below:

echo “source ~/ros/setup.bash” >> ~/.bash_profile . ~/.bash_profile

Build Higher-level/tools

First, initialize your rosdep. ROS Fuerte comes with rosdep 2. If you get a message that your default sources list exists, then don’t worry as it means you’ve done this before.

sudo rosdep init rosdep update

Before finishing installation: remove the <catkin/> tag in /opt/ros/fuerte/share/rospack/manifest.xml.

Now, use rosdep 2 to install system dependencies.

rosdep install -ay

Finally, build the ROS stacks using rosmake.

rosmake -a

RoboShop Project: First Version of PhaROS is Available

Posted on by | Leave a reply

In the RoboShop project, we aim at developing a platform for robotic applications in a shopping mall. We took the decision to use ROS, the robotic middleware backed by the Open Source Robotic Foundation. We also wanted to continue using our favorite language Pharo. This is how we end up developing PhaROS, a client for Pharo-based ROS nodes.

Today, we are glad to announce that the first version of PhaROS is now officially available, that is there is :

There is still much to do in PhaROS, and more broadly in the RoboShop project. But, so far we already have a PhaROS node that wraps the robot that we are using. We connected it to the gmapping SLAM algorithm and we have used it to buid a map of our lab. More to come soon.

18 months Post-Doc Position on Software Engineering for Mobile Robotics

Posted on by | Leave a reply

The CAR team  (http://car.mines-douai.fr) carries research at the frontier of Software Engineering and Robotics. We study software architectures, languages and tools for controlling individual robots. We have developed an expertise in reflective and dynamic languages, as well as component models, for a modular robotic software architectures. Besides, our research also addresses coordination and cooperation in robotic fleets. We mainly focus on communication models as well as emerging or predefined organizations for multi-agent robotic systems.

The post-doc position is part of the CAIRE project. The goal of the project is  to propose innovative solutions for the agile development of robotic software. The study will be validated by developing new robotic-based exploration and mapping solutions.

The candidate must have a PhD in Computer Science or Robotics, should demonstrate strong programming skills, and have research interests in at least one of the following areas:
- modularity and software composition
- programming languages design
- agile software development
- robotic middleware
- control architectures for robots
- multi-agent robotic systems

Important information:
-Workplace : Douai (Lille area), France
-Start: Between May and October 2013
-Duration : 18 months
-Salary approx. 2000 Euros.

To apply, please send your CV + references to : noury (DOT) bouraqadi (AT) mines-douai.fr

New Funds for Our Explorer Robots

Posted on by | Leave a reply

This end of the year comes with good news. Our research on robotic exploration and mapping received a two years funding from the Région Nord-Pas de Calais for a proposal entitled: CAIRE. This project that will be kicked off in 2013 involves two other partners: the RMoD team from INRIA Lille, and the Telice team from the IEMN lab of Lille.

The goal of the CAIRE project is to propose a methodology as well as an infrastructure for developing modular software to control robot for building maps of unknown buildings. One originality of our approach is that we fully rely on dynamic languages and more specifically on the Pharo reflective language. Dynamicity enables fast development and eases debugging. Besides, we rely on reflective and meta-level facilities for building tools and adapting the language to fit our needs.

Research we will be conducting in the CAIRE project will complement our previous work on cooperative exploration of unknown terrain using a fleet of robots. CAIRE is also related to our ongoing project RoboShop which aims at experimenting with robots in a shopping mall. In both projects we are using human size wheeled robots. They also share the same middleware: the de facto standard ROS, from the Open Source Robotics Foundation.

RoSt for Controlling Robots with Pharo Smalltalk

Posted on by | Leave a reply

Santiago Bragagnolo joined the team since the beginning of the month, as we announced during our talk on Smalltalk for robotics last ESUG conference (see slides below). Santiago is working full time on the RoboShop project where we aim at building an infrastructure for service robotics in the context of a shopping mall. We are using ROS (Robot Operating System) as a middleware. Currently, we are focusing on RoSt a framework to bridge Pharo Smalltalk with ROS. The end of the tunnel is becoming closer. We can call services provided by ROS nodes and we can send ROS topic messages. We are currently making tests with the ROS turtle simulator. We hopefully will soon start experimenting with our human size robots.