Saltbot

Author: Srikanth Schelbert NUMSR Winter Project Creating a Salt Distributing Robot

This repository contains two packages that can be used in tandem to use the Clearpath Jackal to salt courtyards. The first package saltbot_nav is a general path planner for a lawnmower style path in an open space, and the second package saltbot_nav_cpp is an interface node for using Nav2.

Prerequisites:

• Ubuntu 22.04
• Python3
• C++
• ROS2 Humble
• Clearpath Jackal running the same as above

Quick Start

1. First, ssh into the robot in two separate terminals using ssh -oSendEnv=ROS_DOMAIN_ID jackal@jackal-desktop
2. In the first terminal run ros2 launch jackal_3d_slam jackal_transform.launch.py use_filtered:=true to launch RTABmap with filtered point cloud data. Otherwise, run ros2 launch jackal_3d_slam jackal_transform.launch.py use_unfiltered:=true.
   • Wait for this to completely load up so that the navigation does not have an issue.
3. In the second ssh terminal run ros2 launch jackal_3d_slam start_3d_slam.launch.xml filter:=true to filter the point cloud. Otherwise, run ros2 launch jackal_3d_slam start_3d_slam.launch.xml.
4. In another terminal on your machine, run the launchfile with ros2 launch saltbot_nav saltbot_visual.launch.xml to start the rviz2 window (set for Nav2), the map_slicer node, and the nav_node Nav2 interface node.
5. If you are creating a map, move the robot so that RTABmap publishes another map.
6. In a final (fourth) terminal window, run the service call ros2 service call lean_waypoints std_srvs/srv/Empty to create the waypoints.
7. Once the waypoints have been published and can be seen in Rviz (this should only take a few second), you can call the service ros2 service call travel std_srvs/srv/Empty to start the robot navigation. If you need to cancel at any time, you can call ros2 service call saltbot_cancel_nav std_srvs/srv/Empty which will stop the action without killing any nodes or using the E-stop button (which will require re-engaging the motors on the Jackal again).