Client GUI for RaspberryPi robotic vehicle control system

Tested OK on Ubuntu 18.04LTS.
Written in python3 with the help of Tk and pygame libraries.
Tested OK with a Gamepad Logitech F310 controller

Installation

Step 1 - Setup local directory

Create a /rover directory and attribute ownership to the current user.

$ sudo -s 
$ cd /
$ mkdir /rover
$ chown <your user>:<your group> /rover
$ exit

Step 2 - In /rover, clone this repo.

$ cd /rover
$ git clone https://github.com/raspberryrobot/clientcontrol

You should have these files in directory /rover/clientcontrol

Control.desktop
README.md
rover_client_GUI.py
rover.conf

Step 3 - Set permissions for execution.

$ cd ./clientcontrol
$ chmod +x rover_client_GUI.py

Step 4 - Install required libraries and programs.

mplayer video software apt-get install -y mplayer

Tkinter library apt-get install -y python3-tk

Python3 package manager apt-get install -y python3-pip

Latest version of pygame pip3 install pygame

Latest version of tendo pip3 install tendo

Step 5 - Configure for network access.

In file rover.conf, set variable ROVER_IP with the IP address used by the Raspberry Pi controller.

ROVER_IP = <Ipv4 address>
ex: ROVER_IP = 192.168.99.1

Step 6 - Create a desktop shortcut

Copy file Control.desktop to your deskop.

 $ cp /rover/clientcontrol/Control.desktop ~/Desktop

The operating system will create a graphic shortcut using this file.

Control.desktop file content:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Control
Comment=
Exec=/rover/clientcontrol/rover_client_GUI.py
Icon=transmission
Path=/rover/clientcontrol/
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false

Basic Program Usage

Initial execution

Click [mark executable] when prompted at the initial program execution.

Buttons

[start]         Start all user interface modules 
[stop]          Stop all user interface modules
[Ping rover]    Send ICMP request to RaspberryPi vehicle control instance
[Reboot]        Reboot RaspberryPi vehicle control instance
[Shutdown]      Shutdown RaspberryPi vehicle control instance
[Start control] Start user interface control module only
[Stop control]  Stop user interface control module only
[Start video]   Start user interface video module only
[Stop video]    Stop user interface video module only
[Exit]          Exit user interface program

Log windows

4 log windows are available

System log window               System command output
Control log - joystick          PS2 controller values     
Control log - motor telemetry   Motor remote telemetry
Video log - video data status   Video bytes received 

Video notes

The mplayer video program will start when at least 1M of data is received.
Mplayer may freeze (mplayer bug) if you click multiple time on the video screen. 
A complete restart of the GUI might be necessary to correct this. 

If you stop and restart the video module, wait at least 2-3 seconds to allow
the video server to reset and restart, otherwise you will get an error 
message