ROS Getting Started

ROS Setup

The current ROS version used for development is melodic on Ubuntu 18.03. You need to install ROS on the robot (that uses Ubuntu 18.03 or equivalent) and set the workspace prior to do anything.

You also need to install the ROS version of RTAB-Map since it's a dependency of our packages. You can find the installation instructions here. It is recommended to build RTAB-Map from sources in order to use the latest version.

Clone the packages

To use the packages, you need to clone the git repository onto the robot. All the packages can be found under the Robot_Software folder.

Before using the packages

Configuration

Currently, for the launch files to start the right resources for the robot/setup that you have, you need to specify with environment variables what is being use. You must set the following variables :

• SECURBOT_BASE: kobuki or pioneer;
• SECURBOT_CAMERA: kinect or realsense;
• SECURBOT_LIDAR: urg, rplidar or rplidar3.

The following environment variables are required to connect to the web UI :

• SECURBOT_ROBOT_NAME: The name of the robot. Must match an existing robot in the databse;
• SECURBOT_SERVER_URL: URL (including port) of the desired server;
• SECURBOT_API_PATH: Path on the server at which the API is available. Set to "/db" if using default SecurBot server;
• VIRTUAL_DEVICE_CAMERA: Set to "virtual_camera";
• VIRTUAL_DEVICE_MAP: Set to "virtual_map".

Take notes that the listed options for each variable are for the supported hardware that were configured by the team. Other hardware could be use, but you would need to add their packages yourself and create their config files at the appropriate place. Other hardware won't be supported by the team at the current time.

Tips

For tips on how to use the packages or setting the environment, see the ROS Tips page.

Tutorials

There is currently 4 tutorials available for the packages. There can be found in the sidebar under the ROS Packages handle.