UT AUTOmata

Infrastructure repository for UT AUTOmata.

Overview

These instructions target ROS 2 Jazzy on Ubuntu 24.04. The package is built with colcon and depends on the ROS 2 branches of amrl_msgs and amrl_maps.

Workspace Setup

Create a colcon workspace with all three packages:

mkdir -p ~/ut_automata_ws/src
cd ~/ut_automata_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/ut-amrl/ut_automata.git --recurse-submodule
git clone https://github.com/ut-amrl/amrl_msgs.git
git clone https://github.com/ut-amrl/amrl_maps.git

If you cloned without submodules, initialize them later:

cd ~/ut_automata_ws/src/ut_automata
git submodule update --init --recursive

Add the ROS 2 environment to your shell startup:

source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
source ~/ut_automata_ws/install/setup.bash

Dependencies

Install package dependencies:

cd ~/ut_automata_ws/src/ut_automata
./install_dependencies.sh

Build

Build the workspace:

cd ~/ut_automata_ws
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

If you keep ut_automata, amrl_msgs, and amrl_maps as sibling directories (for example under ~/projects), run the scoped build from that parent directory:

cd ~/projects
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
colcon build --base-paths ut_automata amrl_msgs amrl_maps --packages-up-to ut_automata --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DPython3_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/python3

From inside the ut_automata directory, use relative sibling paths instead:

source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
colcon build --base-paths . ../amrl_msgs ../amrl_maps --packages-up-to ut_automata --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DPython3_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/python3

The repository also keeps a convenience Makefile:

make -j

Simulation

Launch the simulator and websocket bridge:

ros2 launch ut_automata simulator.launch.py

To publish ground-truth localization:

ros2 launch ut_automata simulator.launch.py localize:=true

You can also run individual nodes:

ros2 run ut_automata simulator
ros2 run ut_automata websocket

Open web_rviz.html in a browser and connect to the IP address of the computer running websocket.

Real Car

Start the full car stack:

ros2 launch ut_automata start_car.launch.py

Run individual nodes when needed:

ros2 run ut_automata joystick
ros2 run ut_automata vesc_driver --config_dir ~/ut_automata_ws/src/ut_automata/config
DISPLAY=:0 ros2 run ut_automata gui
ros2 launch ut_automata hokuyo_10lx.launch.py

Optional camera support depends on the ROS 2 camera driver installed on the car.

Autostart

The systemd service and desktop launcher under scripts/ expect the workspace install space at ~/ut_automata_ws/install and source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash.

Install the service:

sudo ln -s ~/ut_automata_ws/src/ut_automata/scripts/ut_automata.service /etc/systemd/system/ut_automata.service
sudo systemctl enable ut_automata
sudo systemctl start ut_automata

Check status:

systemctl status ut_automata

Motion Limits

The car's motion profile is limited by the top speed, acceleration, deceleration, and VESC motor counts per second. The relevant settings are in config/vesc.lua:

erpm_speed_limit = 22000;
max_acceleration = 6.0; -- m/s^2
max_deceleration = 6.0; -- m/s^2