robobuggy-software

A complete re-write of the old RoboBuggy2. This code was run for RD25, on both NAND and Short Circuit.

Table of Contents

• Installation and Initial Setup
• Launching Code

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Installation and Initial Setup

Necessary + Recommended Software

• Docker
• Foxglove
• VSCode (recommended)
• Git (recommended)

Docker

• Installation instructions here: https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/

Foxglove

• Installation instructions here: https://foxglove.dev/

VSCode

• https://code.visualstudio.com/download

Git

• https://git-scm.com/downloads

Install Softwares: WSL, Ubuntu (Windows only)

• Go to Microsoft Store to install "Ubuntu 22.04 LTS".

Apple Silicon Mac Only:

• In Docker Desktop App: go to settings -> general and turn on "Use Rosetta for x86/amd64 emulation on Apple Silicon"

Clone the Repository

This is so you can edit our codebase locally, and sync your changes with the rest of the team through Git.

• In your terminal type: $ git clone https://github.com/CMU-Robotics-Club/robobuggy-software.git.
• The clone link above is the URL or can be found above: code -> local -> Clone HTTPS.

Foxglove Visualization (WIP)

• Foxglove is used to visualize both the simulator and the actual buggy's movements.
• First, you need to import the layout definition into Foxglove. On the top bar, click Layout, then "Import from file".
• 
• Go to repository and choose the file telematics layout
• To visualize the simulator, launch the simulator and then launch Foxglove and select "Open Connection" on startup.
• Use this address ws://localhost:8765 for Foxglove Websocket
• Open Foxglove, choose the third option "start link".
• 

X11 Setup (recommended)

• Install the appropriate X11 server on your computer for your respective operating systems (Xming for Windows, XQuartz for Mac, etc.).
• Mac: In XQuartz settings, ensure that the "Allow connections from network clients" under "Security" is checked.
• Windows: Make sure that you're using WSL 2 Ubuntu and NOT command prompt.
• While in a bash shell with the X11 server running, run xhost +local:docker.
• Boot up the docker container using the "Alternate Shortcut" above.
• Run xeyes while INSIDE the Docker container to test X11 forwarding. If this works, we're good.

Launching Code

Open Docker

• Use cd to change the working directory to be robobuggy-software
• Then do ./setup_dev.sh in the main directory (RoboBuggy2) to launch the docker container. Utilize the --no-gpu, --force-gpu, and --run-testing flags as necessary.
• Then you can go in the docker container using the docker exec -it robobuggy-software-main-1 bash.
• When you are done, type Ctrl+C and use $exit to exit.

ROS

• Navigate to /rb_ws. This is the catkin workspace where we will be doing all our ROS stuff.
• (This should only need to be run the first time you set up the repository) - to build the ROS workspace and source it, run: catkin_make source /rb_ws/devel/setup.bash # sets variables so that our package is visible to ROS commands
• To learn ROS on your own, follow the guide on https://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials.

2D Simulation (WIP - Doesn't Exist)

• Boot up the docker container
• Run roslaunch buggy sim_2d_single.launch to simulate 1 buggy
• See rb_ws/src/buggy/launch/sim_2d_single.launch to view all available launch options
• Run roslaunch buggy sim_2d_2buggies.launch to simulate 2 buggies

• See rb_ws/src/buggy/launch/sim_2d_2buggies.launch to view all available launch options
  • The buggy starting positions can be changed using the sc_start_pos and nand_start_pos arguments (can pass as a key to a dictionary of preset start positions in engine.py, a single float for starting distance along planned trajectory, or 3 comma-separated floats (utm east, utm north, and heading))
• To prevent topic name collision, a topic named t associated with buggy named x have format x/t. The names are SC and Nand in the 2 buggy simulator. In the one buggy simulator, the name can be defined as a launch arg.
• See Foxglove Visualization for visualizing the simulation. Beware that since topic names are user-defined, you will need to adjust the topic names in each panel.

Connecting to and Launching the RoboBuggies

When launching Short Circuit:

• Connect to the Wi-Fi named ShortCircuit.
• In the command line window: SSH to the computer on ShortCircuit and go to folder $ ssh nuc@192.168.1.217 Then $ cd RoboBuggy2
• Setup the docker $ ./setup_prod.sh (Utilize the --no-gpu, --force-gpu, and --run-testing flags as necessary.)
• Go to docker container $ docker_exec
• Open foxglove and do local connection to “ws://192.168.1.217/8765”
• Roslauch in docker container by $ roslaunch buggy sc-main.launch (wait until no longer prints “waiting for covariance to be better”)

When launching NAND:

• Ask software lead (WIP)

When shutting down the buggy:

• Stop roslauch $ ^C (Ctrl+C)
• Leave the docker container $ exit
• Shutdown the ShortCircuit computer $ sudo shutdown now