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Linux Ubuntu 16.04 and ROS Kinetic setup

Quick guide for setting up the Pioneer LX onboard machine when reinstalling the OS. The same guide applies if setting up an external machine to run the MobileSim simulator offline.

Linux Ubuntu

  • Linux Ubuntu 16.04 (the Pioneer LX is currently running Xubuntu 16.04)

ROS Kinetic
Robot Operating System (ROS) version ROS Kinetic (requires Ubuntu 16.04) is used.

Using ROS
ROS tutorials: Go through the whole beginner tutorial while setting up ROS. When making a workspace, use catkin NOT rosbuild. Catkin is used for building packages.

Guides on how to create and build packages can be found in the ROS turorials:

Quick setup Bash script
A Bash script has been written in order to automate the setup of ROS Kinetic and other dependencies on the Pioneer LX: pioneerlx_setup

Pioneer LX software and libraries

See the MobileRobots wiki

Hardware control libraries
These libraries are required on the Pioneer LX for the onboard computer to communicate with the robots actuators and sensors.

  • ARIA: Advanced Robot Interface for Applications (ARIA) is a C++ library (software development toolkit or SDK) 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.
  • 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.

Useful programs:

A Map of Glassgården, Elektrobygget, NTNU has been made.

Dynamic DNS

It is necessary to set up a static IP address for the Pioneer LX, as to not have to connect a screen and keyboard each time one wants to find the robots IP.

A dynamic DNS (DDNS) will automatically update the current dynamic IP of the robot, to a static domain name. This is e.g. useful for SSH to the Pioneer LX:

Instead of: ssh

USERNAME@IPADDRESS

USERNAME@IP_ADDRESS (

which

where you must look up

for

the IP each time)

Use: ssh

USERNAME@DOMAINNAME

USERNAME@DOMAIN_NAME (which is static)

A static domain name is also useful when using MobileEyes.

DDNS from NTNU
We have previously used No-IP below (which may still be easiest). NTNU however, also provides some support for static IP addresses: Faste IP-adresser og DHCP

No-IP
No-IP provides a simple setup. After installing No-IP software on the Pioneer LX, the domain is updated with the current IP address automatically by No-IP running in the background. - Due to the current use of a free subscription, the host must be updated within every 30 days (basically just turn on the Pioneer LX within every 30 days). A yearly plan can be purchased so that the host will never expire.

Username and password for No-IP are found on Box.