Virtuoso Setup

11/28/23

Recommended File Structure

• Install Virtuoso and all other ROS2 dependencies being built from source within one workspace (e.g. dev_ws)
  • This makes building Virtuoso simpler

~/mrg
└───vrx_ws 
└───dev_ws
│   └───build (auto-generated during a build)
│   └───install (auto-generated during a build)
│   └───log (auto-generated during a build)
│   └───src
│       └───Virtuoso
|       └───ublox_dgnss
|       └───urg_node

System Requirements

Hardware

• 8 Gb of RAM
• Nvidia Graphics Card, e.g. Nvidia GTX 650
• Modern multi-core CPU, e.g. Intel Core i5
• A gamepad (such as Logitech F310) is recommended for driving the WAM-V in simulated world

Software

• Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 Jammy (64-bit)
• ROS 2 Humble
  • See ROS Setup
• Gazebo Garden
  • See Gazebo
• additional dependencies

sudo apt install python3-sdformat13 ros-humble-ros-gzgarden ros-humble-xacro

Install VRX

Set up the Virtual RobotX (VRX) Simulation https://github.com/osrf/vrx/wiki/installation_tutorial

• Create vrx workspace and clone the vrx repo

mkdir -p ~/vrx_ws/src
cd ~/vrx_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/osrf/vrx.git

• build workspace

cd vrx_ws
colcon build --merge-install

• source the setup script

source install/setup.bash

Run VRX

• Spawn a USV in Sydney Regatta environment (2023 RobotX venue)
  • This can take some time due to size of the environment
  • For initial launch, it will also download 3D models from the vrx collection on Fuel

ros2 launch vrx_gz competition.launch.py world:=sydney_regatta

Install Virtuoso

• Clone the repo

cd dev_ws/src
git clone git@github.com:gt-marine-robotics-group/Virtuoso.git

Install IMU and Lidar packages

Note: you can skip this step if you are not using a physical sensor

Install Ublox-Dgnss

• This package is only used for communicating with the physical IMU we have and not needed for simulation
  • You may also need to create a udev rule as directed in their README.md

cd dev_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/aussierobots/ublox_dgnss

Install urg_node

• This package is only used for communicating with the physical Hokuyo lidar and not needed for simulation

# cd into dev_ws/src
git clone -b ros2-devel https://github.com/ros-drivers/urg_node.git

Install remaining dependencies

• Install all of Virtuoso’s dependencies that are not built from source
  • If sensor dependencies were skipped, you may see “some packages were not found”.

# cd into dev_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src/Virtuoso --ignore-src -r

• If you get error: rosdep installation not initalized yet

sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

Build Virtuoso

• Build the virtuoso_autonomy package and all of its dependencies

colcon build --packages-up-to virtuoso_autonomy

• If not using physical sensors:

colcon build --packages-up-to virtuoso_autonomy --packages-ignore virtuoso_sensors

• If you get error: Cmake cannot find package configuration file provided by “pcl_ros”, run:

sudo apt install ros-humble-pcl-ros

Running Virtuoso in Simulation

• Launch VRX using the pre-built URDF in Virtuoso/utils/<competition>
  • These custom URDF files were built from .yaml files in Virtuoso/utils/urdf/... to configure the WAM-V simulation motors and sensors

# cd into mrg
source vrx_ws/install/setup.bash
ros2 launch vrx_gz competition.launch.py urdf:=dev_ws/src/virtuoso/utils/urdf/vrx/x_drive/usv.urdf