The Pioneer LX Software Development Kit (SDK) consists of several useful tools. The most relevant tools are ARIA, ARNL, Mapper3 and MobileEyes. Some are free, ARIA is open source, and some must be purchased. They are available at the Mobile Robots website:
The following libraries are currently no longer supported by MobileRobots since they have shut down. The software is available in our Teams folder. We are working on porting the system to full ROS:
- ARIA → AriaCoda and ROSARIA
- ARNL → The ROS navigation stack
- MobileEyes and Mapper3 → rqt and rviz
An export of MobileRobots wiki is available here: https://blog.siaimes.me/Aria/
ARIA
Advanced Robot Interface for Applications (ARIA) is an Open Source C++ library for all MobileRobots/ActivMedia platforms. ARIA can dynamically control your robot's velocity, heading, relative heading, and other motion parameters either through simple low-level commands or through its high-level Actions infrastructure. ARIA also receives position estimates, sonar readings, and all other current operating data sent by the robot platform. ARIA can be used with Python, Java and Matlab. A ROS interface, ROSARIA, is available for ARIA. This is the key software for accessing the robot base’s internal peripherals.
RVIZ
ROS visualization - or RViz - is a general purpose 3D visualization environment for robots, sensors, and algorithms. This tool is widely used for robots developed with ROS because it can be used for any robot and is configurable for any particular application. Data can easily be visualized in RViz by subscribing to topics that have built-in plugins for ROS visualization.
MobileSim
MobileSim is a Pioneer LX simulator. It is used to simulate the sensor information given in a known environment. When you start MobileSim you select what robot model you are using and what map you want to simulate in. Once MobileSim is running you can start arnlServer which will read the sensors as if you where in the actual real environment.
ARNL
ARNL is a set of software packages built on top of ARIA for intelligent navigation and localization. "Localization" allows the program to keep track of where the robot is and "navigation" allows the robot to get to a given destination. Utilizing the laser rangefinder it can be used to navigate and position the robot in a known map, and includes path-finding. A ROS interface is also available: ros-arnl. ARNL may in the future be replaced by the ROS navigation stack.
sickLogger
sickLogger is a program included with ARNL. It will log the data from the laser range finder, and store it as a .2d file.
BaseArnl
BaseArnl includes the path planning and navigation component of ARNL, as well as some base classes and utilities used by the localization libraries.
Mapper3
Mapper3 is a software used for generating maps from laser scans, and adding obstacles and defining areas on the map. Mapper3 will take a laser scan log file (a .2d file) from the sickLogger program and create a .map file. It will also remove moving obstacles like peoples feet. It will leave you with a nice continuous outline of the area it maps. You can even modify the map on a robot over a network connection
A Map of Glassgården, Elektrobygget, NTNU has been made.
MobileEyes
MobileEyes is a GUI for remotely monitoring and controlling the Pioneer LX. This program can be run from a host computer by connecting to the robot over the network. The programs main purpose is to visualize the robots position in a map and its navigation paths. The program can also be used to create maps and to control the robot. When you run the software you are asked to log in with the user name and password of the robot’s OS and to give the IP of the robot.