PlatypOUs Mobile Robot Platform

Software repository of the PlatypOUs differential drive mobile robot platform.

Repository structure

• ros: ROS workspace environment
• web: web server and GUI
• docker: Docker specific files

Using the repository

The software can be used in two ways: with the Gazebo simulator on your own machine (either a natively installed, compatible OS, or a virtual machine), or on the real robot, where it uses Docker.

To use the repository, you should be familiar with the following:

• basic Linux usage, like using the terminal, navigating in the directories, or running scripts. Here is a link that may be useful for starting: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/command-line-for-beginners
• basic ROS concepts, like the nodes, topics, messages, publishing, subscribing, ROS command line tools, roslaunch, rqt, rviz, tf, etc... Make sure you have read the following: http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Introduction, http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials
• basic Python or C++ knowledge, if you want to make your own nodes or alter existing ones
• basic JavaScript and Node.JS knowledge if you want to make something for the web interface
• Git usage, if you want to contribute to the repository
• Docker, if you want to use the real robot. See: https://docs.docker.com/get-started/ (not really necessary for usage, but useful if you intend to understand/modify docker related stuff)

Running the simulation

Requirements

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa (recommended) or Debian 10 Buster (either installed natively, or in a virtual machine). See: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-desktop, https://itsfoss.com/install-linux-in-virtualbox/
• ROS Noetic desktop full version. See: http://wiki.ros.org/noetic/Installation
• Gazebo 11 (should be already installed if you installed ROS desktop full version)
• ROS packages: robot_localization, gmapping, twist_mux, move_base, global_planner, dwa_local_planner: sudo apt install ros-noetic-robot-localization ros-noetic-gmapping ros-noetic-twist-mux ros-noetic-move-base ros-noetic-global-planner ros-noetic-dwa-local-planner
• Node.js for the web GUI server: curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | bash - && apt-get install -y nodejs

Instructions

1. Clone or download the repository

git clone https://github.com/ABC-iRobotics/PlatypOUs-Mobile-Robot-Platform.git

2. Initialize and build

In the cloned or downloaded repository directory, build the workspace by running:

cd PlatypOUs-Mobile-Robot-Platform
./platypous_sim build

This will initialize the web app with npm ci if not initialized, and build the ROS workspace with catkin build.

You should also run this every time you make a change in one of the ROS packages.

3. Start the simulation

./platypous_sim start

This should start the simulation with the default configuration, and also the server for the web GUI, which you can open in a browser by typing in: localhost:3000

Real robot

On the robot, the environment is built into a docker image by the command:

./platypous_robot build

The image can be started in a docker container in the current terminal:

./platypous_robot start_once

Or the docker container can be started in the background (and will restart automatically, even after computer restarts):

./platypous_robot start

This can be stopped by removing the container:

./platypous_robot stop

Using the robot

For information on the ROS packages, nodes and topics, see the PlatypOUs ROS workspace.

For information on the web server and GUI, see the PlatypOUs Web GUI.

Issues

If you find any problems with building or using this repository, please open an issue on GitHub: https://github.com/ABC-iRobotics/PlatypOUs-Mobile-Robot-Platform/issues

More detailed documentation is under construction, feel free to ask/suggest anything. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.