Miniature Driverless Car

This repository integrates the Azure Kinect camera with ROS 2 using the Azure_Kinect_ROS_Driver and connects it with two control packages:

• Azure_Kinect_ROS_Driver → Starts the Azure Kinect camera node in ROS 2
• laptop → Interfaces with an Xbox controller or keyboard
• mdc_car → Runs and controls the vehicle

Together, these packages allow sensor input from the Kinect and user input from the controller to drive the car through ROS 2.

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📂 Repository Structure

• Azure_Kinect_ROS_Driver/ → ROS 2 driver for the Azure Kinect
• laptop/ → ROS 2 node for Xbox controller input
• mdc_car/ → ROS 2 node that controls the car
• src/ → Source code for laptop and mdc_car packages
• scripts/*.sh → Convenience scripts for building and running the system
  • launch.sh → Launch the nav2 + rtabmap stack.
  • initAzure.sh → Setup for Azure Kinect driver
  • initMDC.sh → Setup for car controller
  • launch-old.sh → Launches Azure Kinect with rtabmap or nav2 + rtabmap
  • runcar.sh → Runs the full car control system
  • xbox.sh → Runs the car xbox controller or keyboard
  • send-db.sh → Send rtabmap data to the car
  • deploy.sh → Send the git repo when connected via ssh. NOTE: move the db to a different location with move-db.sh
  • move-db.sh → Move the db with m or restore with r

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone <repo-url>
cd <repo-name>

2. Build the workspace

Instead of running colcon build manually, use the provided scripts:

./scripts/initAzure.sh   # Build and setup Azure Kinect driver
./scripts/initMDC.sh     # Build and setup car controller

3. Run the system

Start the full pipeline:

./scripts/runcar.sh # In the car
./scripts/xbox.sh r k # On the laptop run keyboard (or c for laptop)
./scripts/launch.sh # See the file for full options (No args run full stack)

This will:

1. Launch the Azure Kinect driver
2. Start the Xbox controller node (laptop)
3. Run the car node (mdc_car)

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🛠 Development Notes

• The repository is configured for ROS 2 Humble.

• A devcontainer configuration is included for development.

  • This makes it easier to get started on a fresh machine, but it is not required at runtime.

• Scripts in the root directory are the main entry points for building and running.

X11 Forwarding

# On server side (ORIN NX):
# Make sure xauth is installed
# Open a text editor with sudo privileges to edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

• Uncomment ForwardX11
• Uncomment X11DisplayOffset 10
• Uncomment X11Forwarding yes
• Uncomment Port 22

# Run this command to restart
sudo systemctl restart sshd

# On client side:
Add ForwardX11 yes to ~/.ssh/config

# Run this to use X11 Forwarding:
# ssh -X capstone@mdc-nx.local
ssh -X nx

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Expired ROS2 GPG Key

# Remove the old key
sudo apt-key del F42ED6FBAB17C654
# Add the new key using curl and gpg
sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg
# Update the package list
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null

# Update the package list again
sudo apt update

Using a visual monitor

If you are using a monitor connected to the Jetson, you may need to set the xrandr -d :0 to get the correct display.

## System Diagram
![](./Chart/System%20Flow.svg)

## 📌 Requirements

* ROS 2 Humble
* [Azure Kinect SDK](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/kinect-dk/) installed on host machine
* Xbox controller (wired or wireless via dongle)
* Configuration and Setup in the `devcontainer`
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## WSL 2
In Powershell with administrative privileges, you must copy and paste `attach-devices.ps1` to allow Docker/WSL2 to access USB connected devices. You may need to add a `.wslconfig` in  `C:\Users\_name_` increase allowed usage (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl-config).