A repository for qut10_jackal.

Changes from the original state of the robot

• Clearpath suggests using wicd to manage the WiFi connection, while we use wpa_supplicant in /etc/network/interfaces directly instead. We are currently using systemd-networkd for ethernet connection handling, and iwd (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/iwd) to handle wifi (interface wifi0). Configuration files live in /var/lib/iwd (need root permission to access) for example Robotics.psk. Useful commands on iwd website, but need sudo to use. Access the command-line interface with sudo iwctl (then take a look at 'device list' and 'known-networks list').
• Static IP for the robot on the QUT WiFi: 172.19.54.2* Needs checking; currently on Robotics network not QUT)
• Enabled Port Forwarding to the ARK as described in Section 4.10 of the ARK user manual; you can reach the ARK with Chrome on http://172.19.226.81 (Needs checking)
• Corrected time zone: sudo timedatectl set-timezone Australia/Brisbane
• Added QUT time server: https://wiki.qut.edu.au/display/cyphy/Our+NTP+server+setting+tutorial
• Set magnetic_declination_radians: 0.1923 in /etc/ros/melodic/ros.d/navsat.launch
• Let ntpdate wait for network to be up: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=766838#20
• Disable ipv6 in GRUB: https://www.configserverfirewall.com/ubuntu-linux/ubuntu-disable-ipv6/
• Disable WiFi Power management: add /sbin/iwconfig wlp3s0 power off to /etc/rc.local
• Static IP for eth0: 192.168.12.1 and DVS: 192.168.12.2
• IDS camera can be tested with ueyedemo however it will appear dark indoors with default settings

Setting up a new robot

• ros.d contains custom scripts that are running at startup through the ROS service setup by clearpath. This should be put in /etc/ros/melodic/ros.d when setting up the robot.
• clearpath_scripts contains executables that Clearpath places in /usr/sbin by default
• clearpath_services contains service files that Clearpath places in /etc/systemd/system by default

Install on new machines

• Install jackal related packages: sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-jackal* ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros-control ros-$ROS_DISTRO-joint-state-controller ros-$ROS_DISTRO-effort-controllers ros-$ROS_DISTRO-position-controllers ros-$ROS_DISTRO-velocity-controllers ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros-controllers ros-$ROS_DISTRO-gazebo-ros ros-$ROS_DISTRO-gazebo-ros-control
• Make sure to add 172.19.226.81 jackal cpr-qut10.cpr-qut10 cpr-qut10 to your /etc/hosts/ file
• Add export ROS_IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}') and export ROS_MASTER_URI=http://jackal:11311 to your .bashrc
• Optional:
  • Install lcm (requirement for ark_bridge; for some reason the Ubuntu package did not do the job for me)
    • git clone https://github.com/lcm-proj/lcm.git
    • cd lcm && mkdir build && cd build
    • ccmake ..
    • make && sudo make install
  • Install ark_bridge:
    • cd ~/catkin_ws/src && git clone https://github.com/autonomyresearchkit/ark_bridge.git
    • cd ~/catkin_ws/src/ark_bridge && ./build_client.sh (at the time of writing, you need to apply the changes in autonomyresearchkit/ark_bridge#1 to get it compiled)
    • cd ~/catkin_ws/ && catkin build

Notes for working with the Jackal:

• Workspaces are sourced within /etc/ros/setup.bash (needs root privilege to edit). This is called from the qut10_jackal package in catkin_ws (clearpath_scripts/ros-start), handled by the ros.service (in the same package, within clearpath_services)
• Workspaces live in $HOME and there are currently three: (1) catkin_ws, (2) lucas_ws, (3) rtk_test_ws (only catkin_ws is automatically sourced)
• Occam 360 camera feed needs calibration, stitched feed is currently broken. All other feeds OK.