ros-pioneer3at

Programs that show how to drive a Pioneer3-AT robot with ros.

README

This README is adapted from this google doc, which has some better formatting and diagrams if the instructions here are confusing.

Introduction

This is a quick-start guide to using a Pioneer3AT Mobile Robot with ROS. It should allow you to drive a robot via a GUI application or a PS3 controller. If you have a SICK or Hokuyo LMS device, you can also make a 2D map of an environment and be able to give the robot Autonomous navigation commands from a GUI application.

If you have any problems, get stuck, lost, confused, find errors, just want to say thanks, etc, highlight the area of the document and leave a comment. I’ll try to keep this up to date as best as I can whenever I receive feedback. :)

System Installation

ROS Installation

Install wiki page works well: http://www.ros.org/wiki/melodic/Installation/Ubuntu Select the -desktop-full package. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-HmQuTe955WDy5t9Q70rw00o4WJjFePuAhqxbgarA1Q/edit

Workspace Setup:

Check the ROS website for installing and setting up the workspace

Gazebo Dependencies

Apparently, Gazebo 9 a new set of dependencies from Ignition was introduced. Follow these instructions to download them.

Userspace Installation

RosAria

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/amor-ros-pkg/rosaria.git
cd ..
rosdep install rosaria
catkin_make
source ~/.bashrc

Pioneer 3AT

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone git://github.com/dawonn/ros-pioneer3at.git
cd ..
rosdep install pioneer3at
catkin_make
source ~/.bashrc

Gazebo

For directions that required Gazebo 1.6, see the google doc.

Follow the instructions at gazebosim.org for download and installation.
echo "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "source /usr/share/gazebo/setup.sh" >> ~/.bashrc This line may depend on how you install it.
source ~/.bashrc

Gazebo Models

gazebo

1. Click the insert tab on the top left of the screen
   
2. Expand the ‘Model Database’
   
3. Insert a Pioneer 3AT model into the world
   
4. Insert a Willow Garage model into the world
   
5. Close Gazebo

Note: This process downloads a copy of the models to ~/.gazebo/models/

Using Gazebo Simulator

Basic Configuration

gedit ~/catkin_ws/src/ros-pioneer3at/launch/hardware.launch (gedit can be replaced with any text editor)

1. Comment the physical robot and lidar drivers
   
2. Uncomment the gazebo robot and lidar drivers
   

<!-- Select the robot-driver you wish to use -->
<include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/core/gazebo.launch" />
<!-- <include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/core/rosaria.launch" /> -->
<!-- <include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/core/p2os_driver.launch" /> -->

<!-- Select the laser you wish to use -->
<include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/lidar/gazebo_hokuyo.launch" />
<!-- <include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/lidar/sicklms.launch" /> -->
<!-- <include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/lidar/hokuyo.launch" /> -->

gedit ~/catkin_ws/src/ros-pioneer3at/launch/ui.launch

1. Select the control method you want to use.
   <!-- Select the control method you wish to use -->
<include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/control/rqt_robot_steering.launch" />
<!-- <include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/control/ps3joy.launch" /> -->
<!-- <include file="$(find pioneer3at)/launch/control/xboxjoy.launch" /> -->
   

sudo gedit ~/.gazebo/models/pioneer3at/model.sdf

1. Uncomment the skidsteerdrive plugin near the bottom:
   
2. Remove the tag
   
3. Add the following:
   <include>
<uri>model://hokuyo</uri>
<pose>0.2 0 0.13 0 0 0</pose>
</include>
<joint name="hokuyo_joint" type="revolute">
<child>hokuyo::link</child>
<parent>chassis</parent>
<axis>
<xyz>0 0 1</xyz>
<limit>
<upper>0</upper>
<lower>0</lower>
</limit>
</axis>
</joint>

Launch Control Demo

This demo is the most basic example; you can send movement messages to the robot along the /Pioneer3AT/cmd_vel topic.

cd catkin_ws/src/pioneer3at/launch/
roslaunch hardware.launch

Then, in another terminal: gzclient

Control Demo Explanation

File paths here are all prefixed by ~catkin_ws/src/pioneer3at.

launch/hardware.launch runs launch/core/gazebo.launch.

gazebo.launch in turn opens a world (config/gazebo/wg_world.sdf) with all the models needed in a gazebo server, and runs a ROS node from src/gazebo_bridge.cc that connects Gazebo to ROS communication so the robot can be controlled.

hardware.launch then enables the laser attached to the robot model with launch/lidar/gazebo_hokuyo.launch.

gazebo_hokuyo.launch runs a laser-scanning ROS node from src/gazebo_laserscan.cc which publishes information from the laser sensor.

Finally, hardware.launch runs launch/core/urdf.launch and cmd_vel_mux.launch. The first opens a ROS node that publishes location+orientation information about the robot, and the second seems to remap a ROS topic so robot-control commands can be communicated along Pioneer3AT/cmd_vel. (This information should be reviewed).

If you want to run more complex examples, check out demo_navigation_amcl.launch and demo_navigation_gmapping.launch.