CMP3103 Week 1

This week, we'll mostly look at simulation and setting up our computers and working environments. You should

1. boot into Linux (we are using Ubuntu Linux 16.04LTS still this year!)

2. Open a terminal, you'll mostly be using commands in the terminal. Hints:

   • [Ctrl-C] will stop a currently running command
   • [Tab] is very useful to auto-complete a command
   • [Up] and [Down] allow you to browse the history of previously typed commands

3. make sure all the software is installed according to Robotics Computer Setup, NOTE: The Lab computers are installed with the correct software repositories enabled, but your specific computer may be missing the correct packages or they may be outdated. You should definitely run the command

   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-uol-cmp3103m
   

   in your terminal after you logged in every time you use a computer to ensure you have the most recent version. It is recommended you then close the terminal and open a new one to also make sure all environment variables are correctly set.

4. (for Linux newbies:) get used to work with the terminal in Linux: a good starting point is the official tutorial for beginners. Please skip the bit about adding a new user.

5. Try our simulation following this first turtlebot tutorial. Get some very basic ROS commands going: read tutorials 1-6 ("1.1 Beginner Level") from the official ROS tutorials are a good starting point. (BTW, You are using ROS Kinetic). First, focus on tutorial 5 and 6 (rosnode and rostopic commands)

6. find out about two ROS commands, namely rostopic and rosnode. Find out what topics exist when you have the simulation up and running, and also how many ROS components are running on your system

7. What do you think about how you could read the odometry from your robot? Find a way to print the odometry of the simulated robot on the screen when moving it around.

When you have the simulation up and running, your robot is moving, and you have figured out what the two commands do and how they work, and you see the odometry on your screen and can explain what you are seeing, get a demonstrator to record your achievement for today.

1. Optional: How do you think you could command the robot to move using the topics.
2. Optional: Generate a maze and navigate to the green square with the keyboard tele-operation.
3. Optional: familiarise yourself with the programming environment Spyder.