Setup

The code in this repo was built around ROS Humble. First install that. Then, from this folder:

• I recommend you setup a Python venv. See steps below.
• Install rosdep, colcon, catkin, and pip (if not already) (sudo apt install python3-colcon-common-extensions catkin_pkg python3-pip python3-rosdep2)
• Init and update rosdep (sudo rosdep init && rosdep update)
• Run rosdep so it installs packages: rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y. Enter your password when prompted.
• Install misc python deps (pip install -r requirements.txt)
• Install JetsonGPIO from GitHub. This must be manually installed. The default options will work.
• Build: colcon build --symlink-install --packages-skip usb_cam (usb_cam can only compile on the Jetson).

Setup venv

Run python3 -m venv ./space-env from the robotics-orin folder.

So you will use this frequently, add the source to your ~/.bashrc: echo "source ${PWD}/space-env/bin/activate" >> ~/.bashrc. That way it will run automatically.

Running arm and wheels controls

First, run sudo ./scripts/configure-can0.sh and sudo ./scripts/configure-arm.sh. The error message "chmod: cannot access '/dev/ttyUSB1': No such file or directory" is normal. Then, run ros2 launch robot/rospackages/launch/robot_ik.py. NOTE: you will likely need to unplug and re-plug in the USB-Serial adapter for the absolute encoders.

Then, on another computer, run ros2 run joy joy_node that is on the same network as the rover, and with a Logitech X3D joystick plugged in (allowing a wider range of input methods is in progress).

Setting up ros2_aruco

Short version

Run these commands:

• pip install transforms3d
• Find where your python packages are installed (eg run the above command again) and source it in ~/.bashrc. This line should look like the following: export PYTHONPATH="/home/marc/Programming/robotics-orin/space-env/lib/python3.10/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH"
• If need to duplicate video: sudo apt install ffmpeg v4l2loopback-dkms v4l2loopback-utils v4l-utils

Long version

To get this working, you may see the following error:

Installing the transforms3d library by hand required. Please run
        sudo pip3 install transforms3d

Run this command (in my case without the sudo and with pip) and it should work. Adding to PYTHONPATH is likely necessary. You will add a command like the following to ~/.bashrc: export PYTHONPATH="/home/marc/Programming/robotics-orin/space-env/lib/python3.10/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH"

Another thing to consider is that while python3-opencv (installed with apt, from rosdep) works with this package, it also works with opencv-python (installed through pip). There is a version difference, which is why there are lines such as if cv2.__version__ < "4.7.0": in the source.

In addition, to allow the camera used for aruco detection to also be streamed, v4l2loopback must be configured and ffmpeg must be present. Install the following: v4l2loopback-dkms, v4l2loopback-utils, v4l-utils, and ffmpeg.

If you have secure boot enabled, there will be additional setup involved (requiring a reboot). These packages might be added to package.xml at some point, but it will need to be added to rosdep, which takes a little while.

To allow simultaneous streaming on another process, set the camera_index and camera_destination_index params in the launch file. They correspond to which index in /dev/video to use. If camera_destination_index is set (to a value which is not -1), it will (attempt) to stream the camera from the source to the destination location (in /dev/video). Now, any other process can load the camera from the destination index.