ROS Android Sensors

Ros Interface to Android Sensors!

This project is compatible with Android Studio.

Heavily Inspired by ros_android_sensors_driver during development.

Currently Supporting Android 7.0 (Nougat) API 24

Intended for Aiding Robot Navigation and Localization

List of Supported Sensors:

• GPS
• Gyroscope
• Accelerometer
• Magnetometer
• Barometer
• Camera
• Microphone

Other Tasks:

• Support for Visual Odometry
• Support for Fused Odometry?

Dependencies

• android_core

In my case, I installed the library as:

cd ~/libs
mkdir -p android_core/src
wstool init -j4 src https://raw.github.com/rosjava/rosjava/kinetic/android_core.rosinstall
catkin build
echo 'source ~/libs/android_core/devel/setup.bash' >> ~/.bashrc

Remember to add the --extend option for any overlaying workspace afterwards.

Run

[Optional] Configure USB Tethering

Before you start, consider the below steps if you don't want to bother with connection over wireless network.

1. Edit the network interfaces file:

   sudo vim /etc/network/interfaces

2. Add the following lines:

   allow-hotplug usb0
   iface usb0 inet dhcp

3. Re-start networking:

   sudo service networking restart

4. Configure USB Tethering on the Android Device:

   Settings > Mobile Hotspot and Tethering > USB Tethering ON

Now you should be ready to go!

Running the App

1. Start roscore on the host computer:

   roscore

2. Poll the host computer's IP address:

   ifconfig [usb0/wlan0]

   Whether or not it is usb0/wlan0, etc. is dependent on how you configured the network settings.

   Be sure to have the phone connected to the same network as the host computer!

3. Launch the app, and enter the IP address.

4. To test whether or not the topics are being published:

   rostopic list
   rostopic echo /android/imu
   rostopic echo /android/gps