ScoutSoftwareStandalone

Nomadic Scout platform

About

This page presents instructions and software for our customized versions of Nomadic Scouts. This customization was performed by IdMind and includes new electronics. The use of this robot requires an external laptop for running the main software. The driver nodes are launched using roslaunch.

Software

The source code can be found here: ros_scout-2.0.tgz.

All software was extensively in Ubuntu 12.04 and ROS Hydro (under rosbuild). Compatibility over different versions may not be guaranteed.

Hardware

The robot contains:

• Two drive wheels, a motor controller that connects to a PC using USB, and a free wheel. There is a button on top that enables/disables the motors and can be used in emergencies.
• Encoders.

Each robot uses two 12V batteries. Do NOT leave the bateries plugged to the robot after working. Keep a periodic check on the bateries voltage and do NOT use them below 10.5V. A charger is provided in the room.

The robot can also be powered by an external plug (220V). Only use this plug when the robot's wheels are not touching the ground, minor testing and in case all batteries are charging.

Usage

Read the README file included in the above package.

Minor Notes

• It is considered that the rospackage joy is already installed:

sudo apt-get install ros-*VERSION*-joy

• By default the ubuntu user does not have permission to access the ttyUSBxx. It should be enough to add the user to the group dialout:

sudo adduser YOUR_USER dialout