The EZ-RASSOR (EZ Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) is an inexpensive, autonomous, regolith-mining robot designed to mimic the look and abilities of NASA’s RASSOR on a smaller scale. The primary goal of the EZ-RASSOR is to provide a demonstration robot for visitors at the Kennedy Space Center. The EZ-RASSOR can:
- Rove across light-to-moderate terrain
- Collect regolith in rotating drums
- Return regolith to hoppers located away from dig sites
- Execute pre-planned routines
- Autonomously navigate around possible obstructions
- Cooperate in a swarm of other EZ-RASSORs
For more information, our wiki contains a high-level overview of the EZ-RASSOR and its many components.
If you'd like to contribute, check out the contributing guidelines and the license.
Clone this repository with git and include the --recursive flag. This tells git to also clone the submodules that this project relies on.
git clone https://github.com/FlaSpaceInst/EZ-RASSOR.git --recursive cd EZ-RASSOR
If you've already cloned the repository without the --recursive flag you can run this command to clone the submodules manually:
git submodule update --recursive
Finally, let the install.sh script do the heavy lifting! A typical installation on Ubuntu Xenial or Ubuntu Bionic is achieved with these commands:
sh install.sh ros ** RESTART TERMINAL ** sh install.sh tools sh install.sh packages ** RESTART TERMINAL **
You're all set! Proceed to the usage section.
Before performing a custom installation, you'll need to install ROS manually. You'll also want to install the ROS build tools. Finally, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the installation script. The script's general syntax looks like this:
sh install.sh <software> [arguments...]
All of the following are valid <software> options:
ros- Install the ROS suite of software. This software is required to operate the EZ-RASSOR (and must be installed first). This script will automatically install ROS for Ubuntu Xenial and Ubuntu Bionic. For all other systems, ROS must be installed manually. After installing ROS with this script, you must restart your terminal before proceeding.
tools- Install the ROS build tools that are required to build the EZ-RASSOR core packages. Again, this suite of software can only be installed automatically on Ubuntu Xenial and Ubuntu Bionic. For all other systems, you must install these tools manually.
packages [-e, --except <packages...> | -o, --only <packages...>]- Install the core EZ-RASSOR packages. After installing these packages, you must restart your terminal for changes to take effect. Ignore specific packages with the
-eor--exceptflag. Install specific packages with the-oor--onlyflag. help- Display a help menu.
Once you have ROS and the ROS build tools installed, you can install any combination of our packages using the installation script. Here are some examples:
# Install all packages except 'ezrassor_autonomous_control'. sh install.sh packages --except ezrassor_autonomous_control # Install all packages except the simulation packages. sh install.sh packages --except ezrassor_sim_control ezrassor_sim_description ezrassor_sim_gazebo # Install only the communication packages. sh install.sh packages --only ezrassor_controller_server ezrassor_joy_translator ezrassor_topic_switch
The EZ-RASSOR is controlled via a collection of launch files. These files contain lists of commands that start up the robot's systems and the simulation environment. They are read, understood, and executed by a core ROS utility called roslaunch, whose general syntax is as follows:
roslaunch <package> <launch file> [arguments...]
Each launch file is located in one of our packages, and the most important launch files are located in the ezrassor_launcher package. To learn more about a specific launch file, visit that launch file's package's wiki page (via the navigation menu on the right). Here are some example commands that show launch files in action:
# Launch the simulation with a single robot controlled by the mobile app.
roslaunch ezrassor_launcher configurable_simulation.launch control_methods:=app
# Launch the simulation with a single robot controlled by an autonomous loop.
roslaunch ezrassor_launcher configurable_simulation.launch control_methods:=autonomy
# Launch the simulation with two robots, both controlled by gamepads, on the moon.
roslaunch ezrassor_launcher configurable_simulation.launch \
control_methods:=gamepad \
world:=moon \
robot_count:=2 \
joysticks:="0 1" \
spawn_x_coords:="-1 1" \
spawn_y_coords:="1 -1"
# Launch the communication system in dual mode: manual and autonomous control together.
roslaunch ezrassor_launcher configurable_communication.launch control_methods:="app gamepad autonomy"
Please read the wiki page for the ezrassor_launcher to learn more about what the main launch files can do.