boxer_robot

NOTE: This branch is for the new Boxer v2.4, which is supported on Noetic onward. Older Boxers that ran Kinetic and earlier will not work with this branch and are not considered to have reached end-of-life.

Boxer 2.4 uses an unmodified Otto 100 base platform, running a customized version of ROS2. For Noetic compatibility we use the ros1_bridge ROS2 package, running under Foxy. This requires that ROS1 and ROS2 both be installed on the Boxer's backpack PC.

The ROS2 API operates on 3 domains:

Domain ID	API	ROS1 Bridge Node	Topic Namespace
100	Fleet	fleet_bridge	/cpr_fleet_api
95	Autonomy	autonomy_bridge	/cpr_autonomy_api
90	Platform	platform_bridge	/cpr_platform_api

NOTE: In Otto 2.22.3 the Autonomy API operated on domain 110 and the Platform API operated on domain 120. This was changed in the 2.22.4 release

The boxer_base package contains the necessary launch files and scripts to translate the ROS2 topics into their appropriate ROS1 names. By default the Otto 100 publishes all topics into a namespace matching the robot's physical serial number. This serial number must be assigned to the ROS_ROBOT_SERIAL_NO environment variable inside /etc/ros/setup.bash:

# set the serial number of the Otto 100 base platform
export ROS_ROBOT_SERIAL_NO=A31_0123456789

The boxer_bringup package contains the install script which will create 2 systemd jobs: ros and ros-bridge.

The ros systemd job controls the roscore process and starts additional ROS1 nodes needed for operating the robot.

The ros-bridge systemd job creates 3 ros1_bridge nodes, bridging the Otto 100's ROS2 platform, autonomy, and fleet APIs onto the ROS1 network.

Base Platform Preparation

You must enable the ROS2 API on the base platform before you can operate the robot. To do this, ssh into the base platform (hostname matches the serial number).

If you are using the latest version of the Otto software, 2.22.4 at the time of writing, add the following to /etc/ros/setup.bash

export ROBOT_REQUIRE_NIMBUS=False
export BRIDGE_INTF=att0
export ENABLE_PLATFORM_ADAPTOR=True
export ENABLE_AUTONOMY_ADAPTOR=True

Older versions of the Otto software, such as 1.18.x, require additional configuration: create the file /var/tmp/rzr_configuration/env.sh and put the following into it:

export ROBOT_REQUIRE_NIMBUS=False
export BRIDGE_INTF=att0
export ENABLE_PLATFORM_ADAPTOR=True
export ENABLE_AUTONOMY_ADAPTOR=True

Then edit /etc/ros/setup.bash and add the following:

source /var/tmp/rzr_configuration/env.sh

Regardless of which API version you have installed, power-cycle the robot after making these changes.

If you want to permanently

/opt/clearpath/X.YY/share/audio_indication/config/audio_indication.yaml master_volume: 0.0

Backpack PC Preparation

Install ROS2 Foxy and the ros1_bridge package:

sudo apt-get install ros-foxy-ros-base ros-foxy-ros1-bridge ros-foxy-rmw-cyclonedds-cpp

Then install the ROS2 API packages provided by Otto. Depending on the version of the Otto software you may need a different version. Otto 2.22.x uses API 1.3:

wget https://packages.clearpathrobotics.com/stable/ubuntu/pool/main/c/clearpath-api/clearpath-api_1.3.3-0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i clearpath-api_1.3.3-0_amd64.deb

Add the appropriate API version to /etc/ros/setup.bash. Select the appropriate line below to match the API version you installed above.

# Version 1.1
export BOXER_API_VERSION=v1_1

# Version 1.2
export BOXER_API_VERSION=v1_2

# Version 1.3
export BOXER_API_VERSION=v1_3

If you haven't already done so (e.g. you did not use Clearpath's Universal ISO for ROS Noetic), install ROS Noetic on the backpack computer:

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-robot

Be sure to add the Clearpath apt sources according to http://packages.clearpathrobotics.com and configure rosdep.

Additional dependencies that, at the time of writing, are not installable through rosdep:

# PS4 controller driver
sudo apt-get install python-ds4drv

# Wireless monitoring ROS node and its underlying system dependency
git clone https://github.com/clearpathrobotics/wireless.git
sudo apt-get install wireless-tools

Finally, you may need to configure the network bridge to omit eno1 from the bridge and instead configure it as a static interface for communicating with the Otto 100 base platform. Edit /etc/netplan/50-clearpath-bridge.yaml as follows (or whatever the name of your netplan configuration file happens to be)

network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    # static interface for communicating with the Otto 100 base
    eno1:
      dhcp4: no
      dhcp6: no
      addresses:
        - 10.252.252.100/16

    # bridge all other wired interfaces together on 192.168.131.x
    bridge_eth:
      dhcp4: no
      dhcp6: no
      match:
        name: eth*
    bridge_enp:
      dhcp4: no
      dhcp6: no
      match:
        name: enp*
    bridge_enx:
      dhcp4: no
      dhcp6: no
      match:
        name: enx*
  bridges:
    br0:
      dhcp4: yes
      dhcp6: no
      interfaces: [bridge_enp, bridge_enx, bridge_eth]
      addresses:
        - 192.168.131.1/24

Ensure that boxer_base/config/cyclone_dds.xml has the correct interface defined in it:

<NetworkInterfaceAddress>eno1</NetworkInterfaceAddress>

Web Interface

Many of Boxer's features are available through the Otto web interface. To access this, connect your computer to the same wireless network at the base robot (or connect directly to the robot's ethernet port) and navigate to http://{boxer-ip-address}:5000

This will allow you to adjust the volume of the robot's audio warnings and view the map the robot has made of its environment. You can also take the robot out of neutral using this interface.

Building Instructions

After the base platform and backpack computers have been prepared, clone this package into a catkin workspace and build it using the normal catkin_make command:

source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash
mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone http://github.com/boxer-cpr/boxer.git
git clone http://github.com/boxer-cpr/boxer_robot.git
cd ..
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y --rosdistro=noetic
catkin_make
source devel/setup.bash

Add the following to /etc/ros/setup.bash

source /home/administrator/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash

Finally install the Boxer bringup:

rosrun boxer_bringup install

Restart ROS and the bridge:

sudo systemctl restart ros
sudo systemctl restart ros-bridge

Verify that the bridge nodes are running, and check that a few topics from the base platform are publishing correctly:

$ rosnode list
# a whole lot of relay nodes....
# ...
/autonomy_bridge
/bluetooth_teleop/joy_node
/bluetooth_teleop/teleop_twist_joy
/diagnostic_aggregator
/ekf_localization
/fleet_bridge
/imu_filter
/platform_bridge
/robot_state_publisher
/rosout
/state_aggregator_node
/twist_marker_server
/twist_mux
/wireless/wireless_watcher

$ rostopic hz /cpr_fleet_api/v1_1/$ROS_ROBOT_SERIAL_NO/bms/battery_status
# [...]
average rate: 1.000
	min: 1.000s max: 1.000s std dev: 0.00000s window: 1

$ rostopic hz /cpr_platform_api/v1_1/A31_002324090/laser/module0/scan
# [...]
average rate: 25.166
	min: 0.000s max: 0.159s std dev: 0.02727s window: 25

Finally test that the robot can move by disengaging the e-stop, taking it out of neutral, and moving it using either the provided game controller or with the following command:

rostopic pub /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/Twist "linear:
  x: 0.1
  y: 0.0
  z: 0.0
angular:
  x: 0.0
  y: 0.0
  z: 0.0" -r 10

This command will make the robot drive forward at 10cm/s. Make sure the path is clear, and cancel the command to stop the robot, or use the e-stop.