by RoboLab, ISIS and many other collaborators.
RoboComp is an open-source Robotics framework providing the tools to create and modify software components that communicate through public interfaces. Components may require, subscribe, implement or publish interfaces in a seamless way. Building new components is done using two domain specific languages, IDSL and CDSL. With IDSL you define an interface and with CDSL you specify how the component will communicate with the world. With this information, a code generator creates C++ and/or Python sources, based on CMake, that compile and execute flawlessly. When some of these features have to be changed, the component can be easily regenerated and all the user specific code is preserved thanks to a simple inheritance mechanism.
#Installation in Ubuntu ( tested in 14.04 and 14.10)
Make sure you have installed the following packages from the Ubuntu repository:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git git-annex cmake g++ libgsl0-dev libopenscenegraph-dev cmake-qt-gui zeroc-ice35 freeglut3-dev libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev qt4-dev-tools yakuake openjdk-7-jre python-pip python-pyparsing python-numpy python-pyside pyside-tools libxt-dev pyqt4-dev-tools qt4-designer
###RoboComp core libraries
cd to your home directory (you are probably in it already) and type:
git clone https://github.com/robocomp/robocomp.git
Now we will create a symbolic link so RobComp can find everything. You will have to enter your passwd:
sudo ln -s /home/<your-linux-user> /home/robocomp
Edit your ~/.bashrc file
gedit ~/.bashrc
Add these lines at the end:
export ROBOCOMP=/home/<your-linux-user>/robocomp
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/robocomp/bin
make bash process the modified file by typing:
source ~/.bashrc
Done! Now let's compile and install the whole thing:
sudo rm -r /opt/robocomp
cd robocomp
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install
The RoboComp's core libraries and simulator should now be compiled and installed in /opt/robocomp.
Let's now tell Linux where to find RoboComp's libraries:
sudo nano /etc/ld.so.conf
and add the following line:
/opt/robocomp/lib/
save the file and type:
sudo ldconfig
Done! Now let's have some fun.
###Running the RCIS Robotics simulator
We will first fetch some meshes and textures used by the simulator (it will take a while):
cd ~/robocomp
git annex get .
Now let's run the simulator.
cd ~/robocomp/files/innermodel
rcis simpleworld.xml
Congratulations! RCIS should be up and running with a simple robot endowed with a laser and an RGBD camera, moving on a wooden floor. Don't forget to turn around the floor to see the robot from above.
####Installing some RoboLab's components from GitHub
The software of the robots using RoboComp is composed of different software components working together, communicating among them. What we just installed is just the core of RoboComp (the simulator, a component generator and some libraries). To have other features like joystick control we have to run additional software components available from other repositories, for example robocomp-robolab:
cd ~/robocomp/components
git clone https://github.com/robocomp/robocomp-robolab.git
The RoboLab's set of basic robotics components are now dowloaded. You can see them in ~/robocomp/components/robocomp-robolab/components
####Connecting a JoyStick
If you have a joystick around, connect it to the USB port and:
cd ~/robocomp/components/robocomp-robolab/components/joystickComp
cmake .
make
cd bin
sudo addgroup your-user dialout // To solve some permissions issues in Ubuntu
./startJoyStick.sh
Your joystick should be now running. It will make the robot advance and turn at your will. If the component does not start or the robot does not move stop joystickcomp with:
./forceStopJoyStickComp.sh
and check where the joystick device file has been created (e.g., /dev/input/js0). If it is not /dev/input/js0, edit ~/robocomp/components/robocomp-robolab/components/joystickComp/etc/config change it accordingly and restart. Note that you might want to save the config file to the component's home directory so it does not interfere with future github updates.
You can find more tutorials on RoboComp in tutorials!
Drop comments and ask questions in:
Please, report any bugs to pbustos@unex.es