How to Run SMB Software?

This documentation explains the basic steps on how to run SMB software.

Please create an issue for any missing library, package, driver, error or any kind of unclear instruction.

Use of Basic Functionality

Remark

This document does not explain the full capability of the robot. It gives basic information related to the core software and how to run it. For more information please check the packages.

In this document there are two terminal types:

Terminal on your PC: A terminal on your PC (called host PC).
Terminal of the SMB: A terminal on the SMB, established via a SSH connection.

If you’re planning to use the software on the robot, please be sure that you followed the How to drive the SMB documentation.

To connect to the SMB please refer to the HowToConnectSMB Document.

Use of Basic Functionality

You can run the software either in simulation or on the real robot. In both cases, you can control the robot manually (e.g using a jostick/joypad) or operate it in autonomous mode.

In both modes all sensor values, odometry and robot state can be read and visualized. In autonomous mode, you can give a goal position for the robot to navigate autonomously via the Rviz interface.

Simulation Mode

The simulation in WaA.world (stands for Test venue in Wangen an der Aare) runs on the host PC (your computer). To run the simulation you do not need a connection to SMB.

# In the host pc
roslaunch smb_gazebo sim.launch launch_gazebo_gui:=true world:=WaA

Now you have two possibilities to drive with the robot.

If you have a joystick connect it to the laptop. You can see the button configuration here.
You can also drive the robot with the keyboard. If you want to drive the robot, make sure that the terminal where you launched the simulation (i.e. where the teleop_twist_keyboard node is running) is selected while pressing the keys. Please refer to the package documentation for the key bindings. To use the keyboard execute the following command:
```
 # In the host pc
 roslaunch smb_gazebo sim.launch launch_gazebo_gui:=true keyboard_teleop:=true
```

For more information about different simulation worlds, you could find details and test different worlds from smb_common/smb_gazebo/worlds/.

More information about the path planner can be found in the path planner repository.

Since we have successfully set up the SMB software, one can launch the simulation and get the first experience with the OMPL path planner. Make sure that the smb_navigation is built. If not, run:

# In the host pc
catkin build smb_path_planner

Then, launch the simulation environment in planner_tutorial.world:

# In the host pc
roslaunch smb_gazebo sim.launch tracking_camera:=true launch_gazebo_gui:=true world:=planner_tutorial

Subsequently, in a second terminal window launch the OMPL path planner:

# In the host pc
roslaunch smb_navigation navigate2d_ompl.launch sim:=true global_frame:=tracking_camera_odom

In RVIZ, you should see a grey-scaled map with SMB in the middle. Now, select 2d Navigation Goal from the top toolbar and set the goal for the planner in the feasible region within the map.

Gazebo	RVIZ

PS: click image to see in full size.

To be able to use the advanced features of the path planner, refer to the SMB path planner Wiki.

Running the core software on the robot

To launch the core software on the robot, run the following command.

# In the terminal of the SMB
roslaunch smb smb.launch

# If you see the message "First IMU Received",
# everything started without any problem

You can test the sensors by displaying the published topics.

# In a terminal of host PC

# Display the list of available topics
rostopic list

# Example: Display the measured wheelspeeds
rostopic echo /wheelSpeeds

To visualize the sensor readings via Rviz

# In the terminal of host PC
roslaunch smb_opc opc.launch

# You should see the robot model in Rviz

You might need to restart the SMB base if the robot does not respond to sofware commands.

Once the core software (smb.launch) is started on the robot, you have several options:

Control the robot using the RC transmitter. The signals from the RC transmitter are read out by the onboard computer and sent to the motor controller.
Use a Joystick to generate control signals (twist messages) In order to control the SMB with the joystick, you should keep presing the L1 button while driving and use the left stick to control the robot.
Run the autonmous software stack as outlined in the following section.

To run the navigation software, you first need to start the core software on the robot (if not already done so).

# In the terminal of SSH
roslaunch smb smb.launch

# If you see the message "First IMU Received",
# everything started without any problem

The visualization in Rviz can then be started.

# In the terminal of host PC
roslaunch smb_opc opc.launch

# You should see the robot model in Rviz

An overview of different options to start the autonomous navigation is given below. For a more detailed explanation please refer to path planner, SLAM.

Option 1: Running with tracking camera

To start the autonomous navigation please run the following terminal command in an other terminal window.

# In the terminal of SSH
roslaunch smb_navigation navigate2d_ompl.launch global_frame:=tracking_camera_odom

# If you see the message "odom received",
# everything started without any problem

Option 2: Running with Online SLAM + MSF Graph

To start the autonomous navigation please run the following terminal commands.

# launch the state estimator with online slam
roslaunch smb_msf_graph smb_msf_graph.launch

# launch the autonomous navigation
roslaunch smb_navigation navigate2d_ompl.launch global_frame:=world_graph_msf odom_topic:=/graph_msf/est_odometry_odom_imu

# If you see the message "odom received",
# everything started without any problem

Option 3: Running with Localization SLAM + MSF Graph

If an existing global map is available, it can be used for planning. In a first step, the state estimator needs to be launched:

# launch the state estimator with online slam
roslaunch smb_slam localization.launch

Before running anything else, you need to first localize the robot in the map. This can be done in Rviz using 2D Pose Estimate from the top toolbar. The localization is successful if the data from the lidar and the points from the map allign. Once this is done, you can run the state estimation and autonomous planning as follows:

# launch the state estimator
roslaunch smb_msf_graph smb_msf_graph.launch launch_o3d_slam:=false

# launch the autonomous navigation
roslaunch smb_navigation navigate2d_ompl.launch global_frame:=world_graph_msf odom_topic:=/graph_msf/est_odometry_odom_imu

# If you see the message "odom received",
# everything started without any problem

Once the autonomous navigation is running, you can use the Rviz 2D Navigation Goal tool.