air_systemTwizy

This repository contains the Central codebase for the AIR team's sd_twizy vehicle, encompassing both simulation models and real-world implementation using ROS2.

Usage

Prerequisites

Install Docker

Ensure that Docker is installed on your system. You can download it from the official Docker website. Docker compose is also required, and you can install it by following the instructions on the official Docker Compose website.

Installation

Step 1: Clone the repository

Clone the air_systemTwizy repository to your local machine using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/alunos-pfc/air_systemTwizy.git --recursive

Step 2: Build the Docker image

Navigate to the cloned directory and build the Docker image with the provided Dockerfile:

cd air_systemTwizy
docker build -t air-twizy -f docker/Dockerfile .

Running the Simulation

Step 1: Start the Simulation

To start the simulation using docker, run the following command setting the desired parameters:

./run.sh RVIZ=true GPU=false PROJECTION=true

The run.sh script allows you to set certain environment variables that control the behavior of the Docker container. You can set these variables by passing arguments to the script in the format KEY=value. The supported variables are:

• GPU: Allows the user to run the PointCloud Process Plugin with GPU usage. Default value is set to false
• RVIZ: Open Ros Visualization Tool. Default value is set to false.
• PROJECTION: Enables the projection pf the point cloud in 2D. Default value is set to false.
• WORLD_NAME: The name of the world file to be used in the simulation. Default value is set to ufg_default.world.
• FOV_UP: Field of view up. Default: 15.0 degrees.
• FOV_DOWN: Field of view down. Default: -15.0 degrees.
• WIDTH: Width of the projection. Default: 440 pixels, due to gazebo limitations.
• HEIGHT: Height of the projection. Default: 16 pixels, due the VLP-16 configuration.

Step 2: Control the vehicle

Once the simulation has started, press play in the Gazebo window.

Open another terminal outside the container and inside the air_systemTwizy directory. Then execute:

./bash_container.sh

Then You can control the vehicle using the keyboard running:

ros2 run vehicle_control teleop_keyboard.py

Follow the instructions bellow to control the vehicle:

flowchart TB
    Start(("Start")) --> |"↑ W"| IncreaseVelocity[("Increase Velocity")]
    Start --> |"↓ S"| DecreaseVelocity[("Decrease Velocity")]
    Start --> |"← A"| TurnLeft[("Turn Left")]
    Start --> |"→ D"| TurnRight[("Turn Right")]
    Start --> |" X"| Stop[("Stop Vehicle")]

Loading

Recording and Playing a Bag File

Once all the processes above are already up and running, open another terminal outside the container and navigate to the air_systemTwizy directory. Execute the following commands:

./bash_container.sh

Go to the host directory that is mounted inside the container:

cd ~/host

Execute the ros2 command to record the bag:

ros2 bag record -o <bag_name> /velodyne_points

Control the vehicle through the city as you wish and then terminate the process with Ctrl+C. The bag will be stored in the host directory, which can be accessed both from within and outside the container.

NOTE: The command above will only record the /velodyne_points topic. If you want to record all topics, replace /velodyne_points with -a in the ros2 bag record command:

ros2 bag record -o <bag_name> -a