CDT Husky Challenge

Introduction

This repo hosts all of the code for the CDT husky challenge. It is composed of the following repositories:

SLAM: This repository contains a basic implementation of SLAM
sensors: Provides various helper functions for reading in and visualising data received from the huskies into MATLAB. For more information see examples/sensor_example.m
control: Provides functions for controlling the husky using MATLAB. For more information see example/move_robot_example.m.

And that is pretty much it! Before using this repository make sure you read the rest of this README...

Setup

Assumptions

From this point on it is assumed that you have the following dependencies installed:

A C++ compiler (eg XCode)
Git
A departmental install of MATLAB (> R2016b)

MOOS and MEXMOOS

Moos acts as a message passing interface between the huskies and your local machines and exists as an open source project hosted on GitHub. Mexmoos allows messages to be received and sent over MOOS from MATLAB.

In order to install these packages we we will use cmake which can be installed using homebrew. If you do not have homebrew installed on your local machine it can be installed using:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Now install cmake as:

brew install cmake

Moos can now be installed as follows

mkdir -p ~/code/core-moos-v10/build
cd ~/code/core-moos-v10
git clone https://github.com/themoos/core-moos.git src
cd src
git checkout 10.0.2-release
cd ../build
cmake ../src
make -j

Note, it is essential that you checkout version 10.0.2 as this is the only version currently supported by Mexmoos. You may get a warning that you are in a detached HEAD state; you can ignore this.

Next install mexmoos...

mkdir -p ~/code/mex-moos/build
cd ~/code/mex-moos
git clone https://github.com/themoos/mex-moos.git src
cd ../build
cmake ../src

Now check that the correct paths have been found. Type in

ccmake .

and ensure that the following paths are set to something like:

 MATLAB_ROOT  /Applications/MATLAB_R2016b.app       # Your Matlab application path
 MOOS_DIR  /Users/robweston/code/core-moos-v10/build    # Your core-moos build folder

At this point press c to configure and g to generate before building as

make -j

You should now have Mexmoos installed. The final step is to add the following paths to the startup-cdt.m script found in this folder.

% --> CHANGE THESE PATHS TO YOUR USER
addpath('/Users/robweston/code/mexmoos/src')
addpath('/Users/robweston/code/mexmoos/build')

To check that everything has installed correctly, either (1) run your startup-cdt.m manually followed by examples/simple_moos_example.m. This script should display the following:

>> simple_moos_example
closing MOOS Comms... done
* mexmoos initialising *
Property MOOSNAME                   Str: ExampleCdtClient9057919
Property SERVERHOST                 Str: 192.168.0.14
Property SERVERPORT                 Str: 9000
DB connection established
Sending message over MOOS with unique number: 9057919
Reading message from MOOS
Received Message:  "Hello, MOOS world (9057919)"
closing MOOS Comms... done

Or (2) close and re-open MATLAB and type into the prompt: mexmoos. If everything is correctly installed, this should print out some mexmoos usage instructions.

Using the Huskies

All of your interactions with the huskies happen through either MissionControl or through mexmoos and a set of provided MATLAB functions. MissionControl is a tool developed by ORI which provides an easy way to launch and manage multiple tasks on mobile platforms.

Initial Set-Up

In order to use the huskies:

Get a charged husky battery
Install the battery in the back of the husky, using a screwdriver to open the panel if required
Turn on the husky and and take note of the battery meter - there should be red lights corresponding to the e-stop and the lockout key. Wait a few seconds for the comms light to go from red to yellow
Connect to HuskyX's WiFi network (password: CDTrobots)
Open a browser and enter "192.168.0.14:8080" to open MissionControl where you can start to launch tasks

Receiving data from the Huskies

Now click on the control icon (gear) and you should see various different task groups. The Moos and StartUpTasks should be highlighted green. To launch the camera on the huskie go to sensors -> Bumblebee2_NoLogs and click run. Now do the same for the laser. Both Bumblebee2_NoLogs and LMS1xxPublishOnly should now be green on the sensors task page. If this is not the case you may need to reboot your system. Go to general -> Reboot_Machine and click run before re-launching the camera and laser drivers. It is often helpful to check whether the drivers are publishing over MOOS. To check this go to Moos -> mtm and click run. mtm (Monitor The Moos) is an application which outputs various information about the channels currently registered with Moos. Your output should look something like:

                   BUMBLEBEE2_IMAGES    17:48:53.586         /home/mrg/code/mrgcorelibs/build/base-cpp/bin/pgr_
DB_CLIENTS           17:48:53.768         MOOSDB_#1            0.5 Hz S  iLMS1xx-14320092,mtm-1...
DB_QOS               17:48:51.767         MOOSDB_#1            0.5 Hz S  /home/mrg/code/mrgcore...
DB_RWSUMMARY         17:48:51.767         MOOSDB_#1            0.5 Hz S  iLMS1xx-14320092=&LMS1...
DB_TIME              17:48:53.768         MOOSDB_#1            0.5 Hz D  1519753733.8
DB_UPTIME            17:48:53.768         MOOSDB_#1            0.5 Hz D  12050.8
DB_VARSUMMARY        17:48:51.767         MOOSDB_#1            0.5 Hz S  BB2-14200208_pose_pb 0...
                   LMS1xx_14320092_laser2d 17:48:53.749         iLMS1xx-14320092     49.9Hz B  *binary* 9.573 KB
MTM-158_STATUS       17:48:53.767         mtm-158              0.5 Hz S  AppErrorFlag=false,Upt...
                   husky_odometry_pose  16:47:26.760         huskysrs             33210.2Hz B  *binary* 202  B
                   husky_state          16:47:26.760         huskysrs             33186.5Hz B  *binary* 111  B

The two channels BUMBLEBEE2_IMAGES and LMS1xx_14320092_laser2d correspond to the stereo camera and laser respectively.

Data can be read into matlab using mexmoos. See the file examples/sensors_example.m for more information.

Making the huskies move

Manually with a gamespad

In order to make the huskies move you first need to connect a gamespad to the huskie. To do this press check that gamepad colour pattern matches the colour pattern on the USB dongle attached to the husky and press the logitech button on the front of the gamepad until the gamepad lights up green (not flashing). This means that the gamepad is connected.

To drive the Husky manually, press the "Mode" button, and the green light should turn off (with the green light on you have to use the D-Pad to control the robot). Once the mode light is off (not flashing), press and hold down the deadman (RB top-right trigger). Now, you can move the Husky. The left toggle will now drive the robot forwards and backwards. The right toggle will turn it.

Note, the huskies will only move when they are connected to battery power and not to the mains.

With Matlab

The function SendSpeedCommand allows you to control the husky via MATLAB. In order to use this function you will first need to launch autonomy mode on the huskies. To do this press 'Y' and then 'A'. See the script move_robot_example.m

Turning the Huskies Off

To shutdown the huskies click stop all taks and then run the task general -> shutdown. Now press the power button on the huskie!

mfinean / Husky