Robotics: Principles and Practice - Software Installation Guide

This page provides a step-by-step guide to installing the tools, utilities, and example software for Robotics: Principles and Practice on Ubuntu 20.04 with ROS Noetic.

Please follow these instructions exactly as they are stated. Do not be tempted to skip through them, assuming that you will be able to figure it out yourself. You might, but it is more likely you will miss something small but important and it won't work as required. Take your time, follow these instructions carefully, and everything will work.

There are two options:

• Option A: install the VirtualBox Ubuntu 20.04 virtual machine (VM) with everything pre-installed.
• Option B: install all the required tools and utilities directly on a computer running Ubuntu 20.04.

We cover both in the following, starting with Option A.

Option A: Install the VirtualBox Ubuntu 20.04 Virtual Machine

Install VirtualBox

There follows instructions for Windows, Mac OS, and Ubuntu (in case you already have Ubuntu but want to use the VM instead of installing all the required tools and utilities).

Windows

Open the VirtualBox Download page at https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and select Windows hosts to download the installation file.

Double click on the downloaded file (VirtualBox-7.0.18-162988-Win.exe at time of writing) and follow the instructions.

MacOS

Download the .dmg installer for OS X systems, execute the file and follow the instructions.

If the VirtualBox installer fails as it is completing the installation, it is probably a problem with a security setting. Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy. Click the lock to make changes (if necessary). Click the Allow button at the bottom and re-run the installer.

Ubuntu Linux

You can install VirtualBox via the Ubuntu Software Center or through command line as follows.

 sudo apt update
 sudo apt install virtualbox

Install the VirtualBox Extension Pack

Select All supported platforms on the VirtualBox Download page to download the VirtualBox Extension Pack. This is needed to provide access to USB devices such as the Lynxmotion AL5D robot manipulator, iRobot Create 2 mobile robot, and webcams.

Double click on the downloaded file (Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.18.vbox-extpack at time of writing) and follow the instructions.

VirtualBox Setup

Step 1: Copy the Virtual Disk Image

The virtual disk image rpp-vm.20.04.vdi contains a VirtualBox virtual machine with Ubuntu 20.04, ROS Noetic, and example code pre-installed. It will be distributed on a physical disk. Copy it to some convenient, easily-identified folder.

Step 2: Launch VirtualBox

In VirtualBox, you first need to create a new virtual machine. Click on the New button.

Usually the guided menu will open. Change to expert mode.

Step 3: Configure and create the virtual machine

If it's not already open, click the Name and Operating System tab

• Set the name to rpp-vm.20.04
• Select Linux for the operating system type
• Select Ubuntu (64-bit) for the operating system version

Click the Hardware tab.

• Set the VM's memory size (RAM); choose 4096 MB or more if your PC's capacity allows. We set it to 16384 MB in the screenshot
• Set the number of processors to use. We set it to 4 in the screenshot.

Click the Hard Disk Tab

• Select Use an Existing Virtual Hard Disk File
• Using the button on the right, open the file explorer

In the window that pops up, click Add

Browse to where you stored the rpp-vm.20.04.vdi file, select it, and click Open

Click Choose

Finally, click Finish

Step 4: Enable Host OS to Guest OS Copy and Paste

When doing exercises and assignments, you may wish to copy text from the host OS (Windows 11, probably) and paste it to the guest OS (Ubuntu 20.04). Note that pasting to the terminal is <shift> <ctrl> v not <ctrl> v.

To do this, we need to enable Shared Clipboard and Drag’n’Drop functionality between Guest and Host Machine.

To enable Host OS to Guest OS Copy and Paste, Guest Additions must be installed in the virtual machine. This has already been done in the rpp-vm virtual machine.

Power off your Ubuntu guest OS.

Choose the rpp-vm virtual machine and click on Settings.

Click on General and Advanced and select Shared Clipboard and choose the Bidirectional option.

Select Shared Drag 'n' Drop and choose the Bidirectional option.

When you restart the virtual machine, double check that the copy and paste, and the drag and drop functionalities are enabled.

Click on Devices and Shared Clipboard and choose the Bidirectional option.

Now, click on Devices and Drag and Drop and choose the Bidirectional option.

Step 5: Enable USB devices

Choose the newly created virtual machine and click on Settings.

• Click on Ports.
• Click on USB and select USB 2.0.
• Choose the device you want to add from the list by clicking the connector icon with the green cross at the right hand side.

Notice that none of the devices you want to add, e.g., Lynxmotion AL5D robot manipulator, are in the list.

This is because the device needs to be connected before it can be added.

Here is what you would see if the iRobot Create 2 mobile robot was connected.

For now, just add your webcam and be sure to remember to return to this step when you want to use any USB device later in the course, e.g., an external webcam, the Lynxmotion AL5D robot manipulator, or the iRobot Create 2 mobile robot.

The device for the Lynxmotion AL5D robot manipulator is FTDI FT232R USB UART [0600].

The device for the iRobot Create 2 mobile robot is FTDI FT231X USB UART [1000].

Everything is set up and the virtual machine can now be started. When Ubuntu 20.04 boots, enter the password rpp, if asked.

Step 6: Check USB Devices are Operational

After Ubuntu 20.04 boots, do the following.

sudo adduser $USER vboxsf 

Select Devices on the top VirtualBox menu bar, then select USB from the drop-down menu, and then select the device you want to attach, e.g., a built-in webcam, and external webcam, a LynxMotion robot manipulator, or an iRobot Create 2 mobile robot.

Now, perform the following checks.

ls -al /dev/video*

If you add just a single built-in webcam, two devices will be listed: /dev/video0 and /dev/video1. /dev/video0 is a video capture device but /dev/video1 isn't; consequently, use index 0 in the configuration files when accessing the device from ROS application nodes.

If you then add just a second external webcam, two more devices will be listed /dev/video2 and /dev/video3.

/dev/video2 is a video capture device but /dev/video3 isn't; consequently, use index 2 when the configuration files when accessing the device from ROS application nodes.

Note: the video devices disappear after you reenter when Ubuntu times out to log in screen (i.e., sleeps), even though they are still checked in the Devices menu. You need to restart the VM to get them back: unchecking and adding them back in the Devices menu doesn't work.

If copy and paste does not work, disable it and enable it again in the VM.

Devices > Shared Clipboard > Disable
Devices > Shared Clipboard > Bidirectional

Option B: Install Required Tools and Utilities on a Computer running Ubuntu 20.04

Install ROS Noetic

If a terminal is not already open, open one by typing ctrl-alt-t.

Copy and paste the installation commands below to the terminal and execute them by entering return.

Note: to copy from the browser use by ctrl-c or cmd-c. However, to paste them to the terminal use shift-ctrl-v (or right click and select paste).

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'
sudo apt install curl
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-noetic-desktop
source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash
echo "source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
sudo apt install python3-rosdep python3-rosinstall python3-rosinstall-generator python3-wstool build-essential
sudo apt install python3-rosdep
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

Install the iRobot Create 2 ROS Package

We use the create_robot ROS package from Autonomy Lab, Simon Fraser University, to interface with the iRobot Create 2 mobile robot: https://github.com/AutonomyLab/create_robot. This package wraps the C++ library libcreate.

Also refer to https://github.com/AutonomyLab/create_robot/blob/noetic/README.md

If a terminal is not already open, open one by typing ctrl-alt-t.

First, install libcreate.

Copy and paste the installation commands below to the terminal and execute them by entering return.

sudo apt-get install python3-rosdep python3-catkin-tools
mkdir -p ~/workspace/ros/src  # if not done previously
cd ~/workspace/ros/src
git clone https://github.com/autonomylab/create_robot.git --branch noetic
cd ..
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src -i
catkin_make
sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER  # replace $USER with your username; this is needed to connect to the Create over the USB serial port

Install the Lynxmotion AL5D Gazebo Simulator ROS Package

Also see: https://github.com/cognitive-robotics-course

NB: There are errors when the Gazebo simulation of the robot is launched

If a terminal is not already open, open one by typing ctrl-alt-t.

Copy and paste the installation commands below to the terminal and execute them by entering return.

sudo sh -c ' echo "deb http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo/ubuntu-stable `lsb_release -cs` main" >/etc/apt/sources.list.d/gazebo-stable.list' 
wget http://packages.osrfoundation.org/gazebo.key –O –|sudo apt-key add - 
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-joint-state-publisher ros-noetic-joint-state-publisher-gui \
ros-noetic-gazebo-ros-control ros-noetic-gazebo-ros ros-noetic-gazebo-dev ros-noetic-gazebo-msgs \
ros-noetic-gazebo-plugins ros-noetic-gazebo-ros-pkgs  ros-noetic-effort-controllers \
ros-noetic-joint-state-controller ros-noetic-position-controllers ros-noetic-genpy 

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-gazebo-ros  # adding it to previous apt-get install didn't work
mkdir -p ~/workspace/ros/src
cd ~/workspace/ros/src
git clone https://github.com/cognitive-robotics-course/lynxmotion_al5d_description.git
cd ..
catkin_make

source devel/setup.bash
echo "source $HOME/workspace/ros/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

Install the Example Programs ROS Meta Package

This meta package comprises ROS packages for Modules 2, 3, 4, and 5 (module2, module3, module4, and module5, respectively).

If a terminal is not already open, open one by typing ctrl-alt-t.

Copy and paste the installation commands below to the terminal and execute them by entering return.

sudo apt-get install libncurses-dev # for module 5
roscd
cd ../src
git clone https://github.com/cognitive-robotics-course/coro_examples.git
cd ..
sudo apt-get update
catkin_make

Accessing Physical Devices

For completeness, here are the instructions to access the iRobot Create 2 mobile robot and the Lynxmotion AL5D robot manipulator. Instructions for a USB camera will be added later. You can carry out these instructions when you have access to the robots and cameras in the lab.

If you are using the rpp-vm VM, don't forget to enable access to the USB ports; see Step 5 of VirtualBox Setup in Option A above.

Setup the Connection to the iRobot Create 2 Mobile Robot

1. Connect your computer to Create's 7-pin serial port.

2. Switch on the Create 2 by pressing the “Clean” button; it should light up green if the Create 2 is charged. If it lights up flashing amber, it needs to be charged first.


3. Open a terminal and launch the launch file

 roslaunch create_bringup create_2.launch

The green light in the "Clean" button will turn off.

4. Check that everything is working, as follows.

Open a new terminal.

List the topics.

 rostopic list

Check that the bumpers are working.

 rostopic echo /bumper

Check that the motor control is working.

 rostopic pub -1 /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/Twist -- '[0.1, 0.0, 0.0]' '[0.0, 0.0, 0.5]'
 rostopic pub /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/Twist -r 1 -- '[0.1, 0.0, 0.0]' '[0.0, 0.0, -0.5]'
 rostopic pub -r 10 /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/Twist  '{linear:  {x: 0.1, y: 0.0, z: 0.0}, angular: {x: 0.0,y: 0.0,z: 0.0}}'

5. Trouble shooting: if the robot does not move, do the following (recall that the superuser password is rpp).

 sudo usermod -a -G dialout rpp

• Power down the virtual machine (or PC if you are running Ubuntu natively) and power it back up again for the permissions to take effect.

• Check that the device is connected by inspecting the message produced by the following command or by clicking on the small blue USB connector icon at the bottom of the Ubuntu window.

 dmesg | grep -i FTDI

• If are using the rpp-vm virtual machine and your host operating system is Ubuntu, you should also enter the following in a terminal of your host machine and then restart the virtual machine:

 $ sudo adduser $USER vboxsf

• If the virtual machine displays blank black screen, try pressing CTRL + F on your keyboard. It should then display the content.

Setup the Connection to the Lynxmotion AL5D Robot Manipulator

1. Switch on the robot.

2. Connect your laptop to the robot controller using the USB cable.

3. If you are using the rpp-vm VM, add the robot controller USB device to the list of registered USB devices by following the instructions in Step 5: Enable USB Devices of VirtualBox Setup in Option A above.

4. Check that everything is working, as follows.

• Open a new terminal and run the following command. Joint 0, i.e. the joint at the base of the robot, should rotate to the centre position.

 echo "#0P1610S250" > "/dev/ttyUSB0" % setpoint 1610 for joint 0 at speed 250

5.Trouble shooting: if the robot does not move, do the following (recall that the superuser password is rpp).

 sudo usermod -a -G dialout rpp

• Power down the virtual machine (or PC if you are running Ubuntu natively) and power it back up again for the permissions to take effect.

• Check that the device is connected by inspecting the message produced by the following command or by clicking on the small blue USB connector icon at the bottom of the Ubuntu window.

 dmesg | grep -i FTDI

• If are using the rpp-vm virtual machine and your host operating system is Ubuntu, you should also enter the following in a terminal of your host machine and then restart the virtual machine:

 $ sudo adduser $USER vboxsf  

• Repeat Step 4.

• If the virtual machine displays blank black screen, try pressing CTRL + F on your keyboard. It should then display the content.