Kuri EDU

This repository contains software and activities intended to be used for educational purposes. The kuri_edu folder contains a ROS package that provides a minimal running robot framework and the activities folder contains ideas and instructions for extending the robot behavior

Note that the kuri_edu package is not stand-alone. It expects to overlay a binary install on the Kuri robot - either /opt/gizmo or /opt/edu will contain the kuri_edu dependencies.

Stand-alone launch Files

• kuri_edu.launch: Launches Kuri, and the nodes required to operate Kuri with minimal autonomous behavior. This launch file glues together several other launch files:
  • kuri_drive.launch - Runs the hardware abstraction layer and depth-sensor.
  • madmux_daemon.launch - Provides a hardware abstraction layer to Kuri's camera
  • vision_bridge.launch - Performs face and object detection

Getting Started:

Before attempting any activities, you should make sure you're able to launch the kuri EDU software without any modifications.

Start by establishing an SSH connection to Kuri ssh mayfield@kuri_hostname

Where kuri_hostname is probably kuri-LAST_7_DIGITS_OF_SERIAL_NUMBER

To set up your shell, source the setup.sh or setup.bash files in the installed kuri EDU binary

source /opt/edu/setup.sh

Finally, launch the kuri_edu software roslaunch kuri_edu kuri_edu.launch

This should launch a ROS master, and some ROS nodes:

mayfield@kuri-0001c:~$ roslaunch kuri_edu kuri_edu.launch &
[1] 19589
mayfield@kuri-0001c:~$ ... logging to /home/mayfield/.ros/log/8997b7cc-bde9-11e8-9393-00073249657e/roslaunch-kuri-0001c-19589.log
Checking log directory for disk usage. This may take awhile.
Press Ctrl-C to interrupt
Done checking log file disk usage. Usage is <1GB.

started roslaunch server http://kuri-0001c:36850/

. . .

process[robot_state_publisher-2]: started with pid [19637]
process[mobile_base-3]: started with pid [19638]
process[depthscan-4]: started with pid [19639]
process[madmux_daemon-5]: started with pid [19645]
process[vision_bridge-6]: started with pid [19658]
process[safety_controller-7]: started with pid [19665]
process[head_controller-8]: started with pid [19668]
process[chest_light_controller-9]: started with pid [19678]

At this point, you should observe that your Kuri robot's eyes open, the head looks up, and the chest light begins to play a simple pattern. The color of the chest LED represents Kuri's battery level. Green = 100%, Red = 20% or lower. Kuri should also back up when the bump shell is pressed.

You can stop the kuri_edu software with ctrl-c

Keyboard Teleop Demo

You can also drive Kuri like a remote control car using the teleop_twist_keyboard node. You may need to install this node on Kuri.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-teleop-twist-keyboard

See the Troubleshooting section below if you're having trouble installing the teleop twist keyboard package

Next, you'll need to start the kuri_edu software and the keyboard teleop node. You can do this using two different terminals SSH'd to Kuri, or you can SSH to kuri and run tmux to multiplex your terminals, or you can run kuri_edu in the background like

roslaunch kuri_edu kuri_edu.launch &

If you launch kuri_edu in the background, you can stop it by bringing it to the forground with

fg

and then stopping it with ctrl-c

Once kuri_edu is running in another terminal or in the background, launch the keyboard teleop node:

rosrun teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard.py

By default, kuri_edu disables all the cliff sesnors and allows Kuri to be wherever you want. Be careful not to drive it down stairs!

Troubleshooting

If you get an error like:

mayfield@kuri-0001c:~$ sudo apt-get update

. . .

mayfield@kuri-0001c:~$ sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-teleop-twist-keyboard
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package ros-indigo-teleop-twist-keyboard

You may need to add the ROS indigo debian sources to your robot. If the /etc/apt/sources.list.d folder does not exist, create it with

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/sources.list.d

Then

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://ha.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80 --recv-key 421C365BD9FF1F717815A3895523BAEEB01FA116

See http://wiki.ros.org/indigo/Installation/Ubuntu for more information

Next Steps

If you've made it this far, you're ready to start an activity. Check README.md in the 'activities' folder for an overview of the set-up steps required to complete any activity.