Mission Control

The user interface for remotely operating the Husky Robotics rover.

Overview

Mission Control creates a WebSocket client to connect directly to the rover WebSocket server at the URL ws://localhost:3001/mission-control. Mission Control will automatically connect to the rover server and reconnect as needed, providing a visual indication of the connection status. Mission Control and the rover server communicate with each other by sending JSON objects termed messages over the WebSocket connection. Through these messages, Mission Control can request that the rover perform certain actions, such as drive with a specified velocity. Additionally, the rover server provides Mission Control with data such as camera streams and motor positions through these messages.

Versioning

The Version of Node and NPM we are using is version 20 (latest tested version is 20.9.0)

If any build or runtime errors appear (eg. a new major version of a package comes out), TELL SOMEONE so we can address it.

Setup

1. Install Node.js. You will need version 20 (The Long-Term Support (LTS) version)
   • Windows and macOS: Download and run the installer for Node.js v20.x.x on your operating system (don't use the binary!)
   • Linux: Run the following commands in the terminal:
   1. sudo apt-get update (updates package list)
   2. sudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg (install neccessary packages)
   3. sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings (makes a directory for the keyring)
   4. curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg (gets and imports the neccesary GPG key)
   5. echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_20.x nodistro main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list (writes system information for the Node.js instalation)
   6. sudo apt-get update (one last update)
   7. sudo apt-get install nodejs -y (finally installs Node.js)
2. Run git clone https://github.com/huskyroboticsteam/mission-control.git in your terminal to clone the Mission Control repository to your local storage.
3. Run cd mission-control to navigate into the repository.
4. Run npm install to install dependencies.

Browser

You should install and use Chromium for optimal video streaming performance. It has been tested to work on version 123. Run sudo apt install chromium to install Chromium.

Linux Users

Linux users must set up a udev rule to ensure that the gamepad mappings are correct:

./linux-config/setup.sh

If you are not using the purple Xbox controllers, you may have to change the udev rule or configure the mappings yourself with jstest-gtk or jscal.

Running Mission Control (For Real Robot)

1. Open your terminal in the mission-control directory.
2. Run npm run build
3. Run serve -s build (if it says no such command, run npm install -g serve and retry)
4. Ctrl+click on the url it prints in the box

Running Mission Control (For Simulator)

1. Open your terminal in the mission-control directory.
2. Run npm start to start the React server. Mission Control will open in your web browser shortly.

Controls

The rover can be operated through Mission Control with either a keyboard or two gamepads. The first gamepad provides controls for driving the rover. The second gamepad provides controls for operating the rover's arm. The control bindings are detailed below.

Messages (v2024.1.1)

The JSON objects sent between Mission Control and the rover server are termed messages. Each message has a type property and a number of additional parameters depending on the type. The usage of each type of message is detailed below.

Mounted Peripheral Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of the peripheral currently mounted on the rover. This should be sent any time the rover server connects with Mission Control.

Syntax

{
  type: "mountedPeripheralReport",
  peripheral: "arm" | null
}

Parameters

• peripheral - the peripheral currently mounted on the rover, or null if none is mounted

Emergency Stop Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover to toggle the emergency stop feature.

Syntax

{
  type: "emergencyStopRequest",
  stop: boolean
}

Parameters

• stop - true to engage the emergency stop, false to disengage the emergency stop

Operation Mode Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover server to run with a specified operation mode.

Syntax

{
  type: "operationModeRequest",
  mode: "teleoperation" | "autonomous"
}

Parameters

• mode - the requested operation mode

Drive Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover to drive with a specified straight and steer value.

Syntax

{
  type: "driveRequest",
  straight: number,
  steer: number
}

Parameters

• straight - straight component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means drive forward and negative means drive backward
• steer - steer component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means steer right and negative means steer left

Tank Drive Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover to drive like a tank with a specified left and right value.

Syntax

{
  type: "tankDriveRequest",
  left: number,
  right: number
}

Parameters

• left - left component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means drive forward on the left side and negative means drive backward on the left side
• right - right component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means drive forward on the right side and negative means drive backward on the right side

Holonomic Drive Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover to drive with holonomic capabilities (i.e., it can rotate independently without requiring translational motion).

Syntax

{
  type: "holonomicDriveRequest",
  straight: number,
  left: number,
  turnCCW: number
}

Parameters

• straight - straight component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means drive forward and negative means drive backward
• left - left component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means drive left and negative means drive right
• turnCCW - turning component in [-1.0, 1.0], where positive means turning in the counterclockwise direction and negative means turning in the clockwise direction

Joint Power Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover server to make a joint move with a specified power.

Syntax

{
  type: "jointPowerRequest",
  joint: "armBase" | "shoulder" | "elbow" | "forearm" | "wrist" | "hand" | "drillArm" | "activeSuspension" | "ikForward" | "ikUp",
  power: number
}

Parameters

• joint - the name of the joint
• power - the requested power in [-1, 1]

Joint Position Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover server to make a joint move to a specified position.

Syntax

{
  type: "jointPositionRequest",
  joint: "armBase" | "shoulder" | "elbow" | "forearm" | "wrist" | "hand" | "drillArm" | "activeSuspension" | "ikForward" | "ikUp",
  position: number
}

Parameters

• joint - the name of the joint
• position - the requested position in degrees

Joint Position Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of a joint's current position.

Syntax

{
  type: "jointPositionReport",
  joint: "armBase" | "shoulder" | "elbow" | "forearm" | "wrist" | "hand" | "drillArm" | "activeSuspension",
  position: number
}

Parameters

• joint - the name of the joint
• position - the current position in degrees

Request Arm IK Enabled

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover to enable or disable inverse kinematics. This packet is not guaranteed to enable/disable IK. An armIKEnabledReport packet will be sent immediately after the requestArmIKEnabled is processed by the rover, and this can be used to know if IK was successfully enabled/disabled.

Syntax

{
  type: "requestArmIKEnabled",
  enabled: boolean
}

Parameters

• enabled - whether or not inverse kinematics for the arm should be enabled or disabled.

Arm IK Enabled Report

Description

Sent from the rover to inform Mission Control whether or not the Rover has enabled or disabled inverse kinematics.

Syntax

{
  type: "armIKEnabledReport",
  enabled: boolean
}

Parameters

• enabled - whether or not inverse kinematics for the arm is enabled

Motor Status Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of a motor's status.

Syntax

{
  type: "motorStatusReport",
  motor: string,
  power: number | null,
  position: number | null,
}

Parameters

• motor - the name of the motor
• power - the current power of the motor, or null if unavailable
• position - the current position of the motor in degrees, or null if unavailable

Rover Position Report

Description

Sent from the rover to inform Mission Control of the rover's current position in the world reference frame

Syntax

{
  type: "roverPositionReport",
  orientW: number,
  orientX: number,
  orientY: number,
  orientZ: number,
  lon: number,
  lat: number,
  recency: number
}

Parameters

• orientW - refers to the orientation quaternion W component
• orientX - refers to the orientation quaternion X component
• orientY - refers to the orientation quaternion Y component
• orientZ - refers to the orientation quaternion Z component
• lon - refers to the longitude of the rover in world reference frame in degrees in floating point values
• lat - refers to the latitude of the rover in world reference frame in degrees in floating point values
• recency - refers to the difference in time between when the measurement was taken and sent in seconds

Camera Stream Open Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover server to begin providing a camera stream.

Syntax

{
  type: "cameraStreamOpenRequest",
  camera: string,
  fps: number
}

Parameters

• camera - the name of the camera
• fps - the frame rate of the camera stream as an integer

Camera Stream Close Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover server to stop providing a camera stream.

Syntax

{
  type: "cameraStreamCloseRequest",
  camera: string
}

Parameters

• camera - the name of the camera

Camera Stream Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of a single frame of a camera stream.

Syntax

{
  type: "cameraStreamReport",
  camera: string,
  data: string | null
}

Parameters

• camera - the name of the camera
• data - the raw h264 frame data, or null if no data is available

Autonomous Waypoint Navigation Request

Description

Sent from Mission Control to instruct the rover to navigate to the next waypoint. This message will only be sent if the rover is in autonomous mode.

Syntax

{
  type: "waypointNavRequest",
  latitude: number,
  longitude: number,
  isApproximate: boolean,
  isGate: boolean
}

Parameters

• latitude - the latitude of the waypoint in degrees
• longitude - the longitude of the waypoint in degrees
• isApproximate - denotes whether the location is an approximate location (See section 1.e.v URC Rules)
• isGate - denotes whether the location is a gate (two posts the rover must pass between)

Autonomous Planned Path Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of the currently planned autonomous path for plan visualization.

Syntax

{
  type: "autonomousPlannedPathReport",
  path: { x: number, y: number, heading: number }[]
}

Parameters

• path - an array of points in cartesian coordinates that make up the planned path, where points with adjacent indices are connected by an edge
• x - the x-coordinate of a point in meters relative to the rover's position, where positive means in front of the rover and negative means behind the rover
• y - the y-coordinate of a point in meters relative to the rover's position, where positive means left of the rover and negative means right of the rover
• heading - the planned heading of the rover at a point, measured in radians counterclockwise from the rover's x-axis

Pose Confidence Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of an ellipse representing the 95% confidence interval for the rover's true position. This ellipse will be displayed in the Plan Viz.

Syntax

{
  type: "poseConfidenceReport",
  radiusX: number,
  radiusY: number,
  rotation: number
}

Parameters

• radiusX - the radius of the ellipse along the rover's x-axis before the rotation is applied
• radiusY - the radius of the ellipse along the rover's y-axis before the rotation is applied
• rotation - how many radians counterclockwise the ellipse is rotated

Lidar Data Report

Description

Sent from the rover server to inform Mission Control of data provided by the rover's lidar sensor.

Syntax

{
  type: "lidarReport",
  points: { x: number, y: number }[]
}

Parameters

• points - an array of points in cartesian coordinates read by the lidar sensor
• x - the x-coordinate of a point in meters relative to the rover's position, where positive means in front of the rover and negative means behind the rover
• y - the y-coordinate of a point in meters relative to the rover's position, where positive means left of the rover and negative means right of the rover