formant_deepracer

This repository contains an entire catkin workspace that is built to provide more standard endpoints for the capabilities of an AWS Deepracer.

It adds the following ros topics:

ROS topic	ROS type	direction
/front_camera/compressed	sensor_msgs/CompressedImage	publisher
/cmd_vel	geometry_msgs/Twist	subscriber
/battery_level	std_msgs/Int32	publisher
/start	std_msgs/Bool	subscriber
/active	std_msgs/Bool	publisher

Setup

Run though car setup

https://d1.awsstatic.com/deepracer/getstarted.pdf

Dependencies

Add apt dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential ros-kinetic-vision-opencv ros-kinetic-cv-bridge ros-kinetic-image-transport-plugins ros-kinetic-tf ros-kinetic-tf2-tools tmux vim libvips42

Clone this repository

cd && git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/jturnshek/formant_deepracer.git catkin_ws

Build the repository

source /opt/ros/kinetic/setup.sh
cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin_make

Set the ros nodes to start on boot

In /etc/rc.local, add the command:

runuser -l  deepracer -c 'sleep 15 && /home/deepracer/catkin_ws/start.sh'

Set up the formant agent

1. Follow the steps to create a new device here.

2. When installing, you will be asked if you are using ROS:

Would you like to configure the Agent with ROS?

Are you using ROS? [yes/no]

Enter yes and proceed.

You will then be asked to specify a catkin workspace:

Enter the absolute path of your ROS catkin workspace to enable custom message discovery.
 This may be changed at any time by modifying /var/lib/formant/.bashrc. The setup.bash is expected in
 $CATKIN_WS/devel/setup.bash

Catkin Workspace (optional) 

Enter /home/deepracer/catkin_ws and proceed.

3. Configure the device with the following options:

Global Configuration:
  Device tags:
    type: deepracer

ROS: 
  ADD STREAM:
    Telemetry stream name: camera
    Ingestion topic: /front_camera/compressed
  ADD STREAM:
    Telemetry stream name: battery_level
    Ingestion topic: /battery_level
  ADD STREAM:
    Telemetry stream name: start_button
    Ingestion topic: /start
    ROS message path: data
    
Teleoperation:
  ADD ROS TELEOP STREAM:
    Name of ROS topic:
      /cmd_vel
    Type of ROS topic:
      geometry_msgs/Twist
      command
  ADD ROS TELEOP STREAM:
    Name of ROS topic:
      /front_camera/compressed
    Type of ROS topic:
      sensor_msgs/CompressedImage
      observe
  ADD ROS TELEOP STREAM:
    Name of ROS topic:
      /start
    Type of ROS topic:
      std_msgs/Bool
      command
  ADD ROS TELEOP STREAM:
    Name of ROS topic:
      /active
    Type of ROS topic:
      std_msgs/Bool
      observe

Running

The ros nodes should now start in a tmux session (for introspection purposes) called formant_deepracer upon startup, so reset the car if you haven't already.

If you'd like to run the launch file directly, you can do so with:

source catkin_ws/devel/setup.sh
roslaunch catkin_ws/launch/formant.launch

The Formant configuration will allow you to teleoperate the robot. It is possible that in some cases, the /START button may need to be pressed in order to enable the motors.