Bullet Syropod

This repository contains the configuration, model and launch files specific to the Bullet robot.

This is an operation setup readme for the Bullet Syropod platform - please do not modify. These instructions are top-level, please consult readme of each individual package for further help.

Getting Started

If you haven't looked at the tutorials for using Syropod Highlevel Controller, see SHC Tutorials.

Requirements

• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and ROS Melodic; or
• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and ROS Noetic

Dependencies

Base

• Syropod High-level Controller:
  • git clone https://github.com/csiro-robotics/syropod_highlevel_controller.git
• Syropod Remote:
  • git clone https://github.com/csiro-robotics/syropod_remote.git

Control Input

• ROS Joystick
  • sudo apt-get install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-joy
• RQT Reconfigure Control (Optional):
  • git clone https://github.com/csiro-robotics/syropod_rqt_reconfigure_control.git

Instructions on the use of differing control inputs can be found at the individual repo links above.

Installation

mkdir -p openshc_ws/src
cd openshc_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/csiro-robotics/bullet_syropod.git
cd ..
catkin build

Operation

High-Level Control

To run the Bullet high-level control run the following launch file with optional arguments

roslaunch bullet_syropod bullet_highlevel.launch

Below are the default values for optional high-level arguments

• Bullet Configuration: config:=bullet_insectoid (loads bullet_insectoid.yaml for SHC)
• Gait Parameters: gait:=gait (loads gait.yaml for SHC)
• Auto-Pose Parameters: auto_pose:=auto_pose (loads auto_pose.yaml for SHC)
• Control input method: control:=joy ('rqt' to use rqt_reconfigure_control)
• RVIZ Visualisation: rviz:=true
• Gazebo Simulation: gazebo:=false
• RQT Plot: plot:=false
• RQT Reconfigure: reconfigure:=false
• Auto-Logging: logging:=false

Example: To run Bullet Insectoid configuration in Gazebo but without rviz visualisation with parameter reconfiguration panel and rqt_plot run the following:

roslaunch bullet_syropod bullet_highlevel.launch config:=bullet_insectoid rviz:=false gazebo:=true reconfigure:=true plot:=true

Tuning of configuration parameters is done using the corresponding config yaml files. Consult syropod_highlevel_controller/config/readme.md for details.

Typical Usage

RVIZ Visualisation of Mammalian Config:

roslaunch bullet_syropod bullet_highlevel.launch config:=bullet_mammalian rviz:=true

Gazebo Simulation of Insectoid Config:

roslaunch bullet_syropod bullet_highlevel.launch config:=bullet_insectoid gazebo:=true

Tuning & Experimentation

Before tuning please make a copy of the desired parameter file (eg: bullet_insectoid) and make changes there.

In order to use the new parameter file launch 'bullet_highlevel' with the specific argument set to the new parameter file.

eg: roslaunch bullet_syropod bullet_highlevel config:=bullet_insectoid

Tuning of high-level parameters is done using the following parameter files.

• Syropod Parameters - arg=config:
  • /config/bullet_*.yaml
• Gait Cycle Parameters - arg=gait:
  • /config/gait.yaml
• Auto Posing Cycle Parameters - arg=auto_pose:
  • /config/auto_pose.yaml

Consult syropod_highlevel_controller/config/readme.md for details.

Authors

• Samith Ashan
• Benjamin Tam

License

This project is licensed under the CSIRO Open Source Software Licence Agreement (variation of the BSD / MIT License) - see the LICENSE file for details.

Issues

Please report bugs using Issue Tracker or contact us via email shc-support@csiro.au.