CSE550

Mobile Robotics

TurtleBots

Process for Running Code on the Turtlebot

  1. Choose a working/available turtlebot. For now, we'll choose wash.
  2. ssh into that turtlebot. From the lab machines, that should be as easy as ssh wash.
  3. Start the main turtlebot driver on the turtlebot. roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch
  4. In a separate window, use the following command to link up with the turtlebot. export ROS_MASTER_URI=http://wash:11311
  5. In that second window, start the dashboard. roslaunch turtlebot_dashboard turtlebot_dashboard.launch
    Everything should appear green in the dashboard. If you click the leftmost button on the dashboard, and look at the Mode, it SHOULD be in FULL mode. If it is not, press the gear on the dashboard and select FULL.
  6. Now you can run your own code. You can either
    • Run your code on the turtlebot. The same ssh repos are on there. You can ssh in and launch scripts from there.
    • Or you can run the code on another machine (like the lab machine) by running the export ROS_MASTER_URI command from above and running the code from that machine.
  7. When you are finished, use the dashboard to put the robot back into PASSIVE mode.

Robot Statuses

Oh noes! Turtlebot Problems

Problem: Turtlebot is singing that annoying song.

Solution: Disconnect the turtlebot base from the power cord. Then press the power button. Then plug it back in (if needed).

Turtlebot appears to be working but does not actually move!

Solution: Run roslaunch turtlebot_teleop keyboard_teleop.launch and try driving it with the I,J and L keys. If that works, the problem is likely your code.

Failed to contact device with error: [Error reading from SCI port. No data.]. Please check that the Create is powered on and that the connector is plugged into the Create.

This one should be self explanatory.

Failed to contact device with error: [Distance, angle displacement too big, invalid readings from robot. Distance: 14.11, Angle: 144.88]. Please check that the Create is powered on and that the connector is plugged into the Create.

Quasi-solution: Restart the launch file again.