Project ACR

Description

The ACR is a robot designed to detect and repair damage on wind turbine wings. Using an arduino and the ROS middleware, the robot can currently:

• Drive around; controlled by keyboard input via a usb connection
• Stick to surfaces using an external vacuum pump

Hardware

• Lidar: Leddar Vu8
• Controller: Arduino ATMega2560 with custom shield (see docs folder for documentation on the shield)
• Stepper Drivers: TB6600 (4x)
• Stepper Motors: NEMA17 (4x)

Running and Installation

For running the robot, there are two options:

1. In a docker container
2. On a virtual machine or normal PC with Ubuntu 18.04 (not anything higher, or lower)

I highly recommend doing it in a docker container, especially if you don't have experience with any Linux-related stuff.

In a docker container

Prerequisites

1. Make sure you have docker installed your computer.

2. Run build.sh as Admin or using the sudo command in Linux.

Running

1. Run run.sh as Admin or using the sudo command in Linux. It will then say: I need more parameters! To which you respond with the appropriate parameters. They're the virtual device files corresponding to the lidar, and arduino. Often one of the following:

 - Windows: COM[0-9]

 - Linux: /dev/ACM[0-9] or /dev/USB[0-9]

2. Control the robot using the i, j, k, l, m, , and . keys. Keep the terminal with teleop_twist focused, as it will only listen to the keyboard when it is focused

3. That was it. That's why you should use docker.

Make sure the robot is not in full speed !

On a (virtual) machine with Ubuntu 18.04:

Prerequisites

1. Follow the following instructions to install ROS.

2. For installing everything needed concerning the Lidar, you'll need to head to the LeddarSDK github page

3. Upload code to the arduino. The source code is located in rosssystem/src/acr_control/src.

4. Build everything using catkin_make

Running

1. You can simply launch the project using roslaunch acr_setup acr_setup.launch. If you get any errors saying it can't connect on the given usb ports, you should change the parameters to match the ones on you machine. These are often the following:

 - Windows: COM[0-9]

 - Linux: /dev/ACM[0-9] or /dev/USB[0-9]

Make sure the robot is not in full speed !

Calibrating the Robot

There is no dedicated odometry device (like a potmeter to check the angle of the wheels), so current the speed of the robot is matched by the rviz simulation using a calibration factor in the arduino code. This code, and instructions can be found in arduino_src/arduino_src.ino.

Notes

I've run into issues with the leddar sdk a while ago (early 2020), and have seen that they since then have updated their repo and guides. You might want to check out a new version of their sdk.

The project is build on ROS Melodic. The reason I've not migrated to Noetic is that the rosserial_python package hasn't been updated accordingly. You might want to keep an eye out for this.

Ideas

• Replacing the Arduino by a Controllino
• On-board raspberry pi for wireless control
• Implementing SLAM for autonomous navigation [RUNNING]

Further info on goals can be found in the 'Projects' page