SuperDroid Robots MiniSLAM Setup, Operation, And Configuration

MiniSLAM

Setup, Operation, and Configuration

Short Description
The MiniSLAM robot is an development platform designed to demonstrate the
capabilities of SLAM algorithms paired with autonomous waypoint navigation.

Images shown may not be an exact representation of the robot’s features listed in this document

SuperDroid Robots, Inc Contact
224 Technology Park Lane [phone]
Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 [e-mail]
www.SuperDroidRobots.com

Revised: August 3, 2018 Page 2 of 13

Contents

Setup ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................................................................ 3

FIRST TIME SETUP ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Operation ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3

LAUNCHING ................................................................................................................................................................. 4

CONTROL ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4

VISUALIZATION ............................................................................................................................................................. 6

ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK .................................................................................................................................................. 9

Configuration Options ................................................................................................................................................ 10

NODE PARAMETERS .................................................................................................................................................... 11

CREATING/EDITING C++ PACKAGES ............................................................................................................................... 11

General Terms............................................................................................................................................................. 13

SuperDroid Robots, Inc Contact
224 Technology Park Lane [phone]
Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 [e-mail]
www.SuperDroidRobots.com

Revised: August 3, 2018 Page 3 of 13

Setup

This platform is built on the Robot Operating System (ROS). To get everything up and running, knowledge of ROS
and basic Linux functions is a requirement. Generally, wiki.ros.org is an excellent source of information full of
tutorials/guides for both beginners and advanced users. If you’re just getting started with ROS, it is highly
recommended to complete the beginner level tutorials.

System Requirements

The following will be needed to setup and operate the MiniSLAM robot:

• Computer with Ubuntu 16.04 that’s able to connect to a wireless router

NOTE: A virtual machine running Ubuntu 16.04 will also work but may require additional setup

• X-input USB Gamepad

First Time Setup

Complete the steps below to setup your computer:

1. Make sure your computer has internet connection.

2. Follow this tutorial to install ROS Kinetic on your Ubuntu machine.

3. Install the joy ROS node to read values from your USB Gamepad:

4. Download the MiniSLAM_UI.zip file and extract it on your Ubuntu machine.

5. Connect the USB gamepad to your computer and confirm the Linux device name is js0:

NOTE: Go to step 6 if the device name is js0.

If the joystick is listed as something else (js1, js2, etc.) you will need to edit the launch file to point to the
correct device name:

Edit the following line with the correct name:

6. Turn the robot on and connect to the on-board router (SSID: MiniSLAM). Confirm that your network

interface (usually wlan0) has been assigned an IP address.

Operation

Control and operation of this robot is performed through ROS Visualization (RViz) and the provided USB gamepad.
Before proceeding, make sure the first time setup steps have been completed.

sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-joy

ls /dev/input/

vim /path/to/MiniSLAM_UI/ui.launch

<param name=”dev” value=”/dev/input/<enter device here>”

SuperDroid Robots, Inc Contact
224 Technology Park Lane [phone]
Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 [e-mail]
www.SuperDroidRobots.com

Revised: August 3, 2018 Page 4 of 13

Launching

Follow these steps to begin operation:

1. Power on the robot and connect to the on-board router (SSID: MiniSLAM). Once the LIDAR starts

spinning, the robot boot process has finished. This usually takes around 30 seconds.

2. Launch the ROS joystick driver and RViz using launch_ui.sh located in the MiniSLAM_UI directory. If the

network interface used to connect to the robot is anything other than wlan0, it will need to be passed as
an argument:

NOTE: The source command always needs to be used so ROS environment variables are set properly.

3. Confirm that RViz is able to find the mini_slam.rviz configuration file located in the MiniSLAM_UI

directory. If the display options shown below are available, everything has launched correctly:

If the above display options aren’t visible, load the configuration file manually:
File->Open Config->/path/to/MIniSLAM_UI/mini_slam.rviz

Control

The MiniSLAM robot can either be operated manually or through autonomous waypoint navigation. The provided
USB gamepad is used to provide manual control and for switching operation modes:

source /path/to/MiniSLAM_UI/launch_ui.sh <enter network interface here>