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This package enables the BWI code stack on machines running Ubuntu 20.04.03 LTS+. It creates a Docker image and container that can control a BWIbot V2 or V4.

Table of Contents

Getting Started
    Requirements
    Install
    Setup
Usage
    Run ROS and the BWI codebase
    Development
Build a New Image

Getting Started

Note that if you are working on a lab BWIbot the requirements are already met.

Requirements

This package is designed for use with Ubuntu OS and systems having NVIDIA graphics cards using NVIDIA drivers. Verify whether you have NVIDIA drivers loaded with the command nvidia-smi. If you do not, it will return an error. This article describes a verified method of installing Nvidia drivers on Ubuntu under the heading Install Nvidia Driver Using GUI. You will need to reboot for changes to take effect.

Install

Clone the repo into a useful directory, eg ~/<your user>/.

git clone https://github.com/utexas-bwi/bwi-docker.git

The rest of this setup assumes there is already a docker image called bwi_system_i on your system. If you are installing on a new robot or computer, you will need to build the image before proceeding. For image build instructions, see the bottom of this page.

Setup

  1. Copy bash tools to your user space. From the bwi-docker directory on the host, copy the bash_tools to your userspace with
echo "source `pwd`/bash_tools" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
  1. Copy the correct config for your robot and put it in the main project directory. From the bwi-docker directory, run the command below. Replace <robot version> with V2 for running on a Bwibot V2 and V4 for a BWIbot V4. If installing on a standalone computer, you can use computer in place of <robot_version>:
cp docker_configs/docker-compose_<robot version>.yml docker-compose.yml

Usage

These commands should be run from the host:

command operation context
bwi-start Start the docker container Run from project directory bwi-docker
bwi-shell Open a bash shell inside the container Run from anywhere on the host
bwi-stop Stop and remove the docker container Run from project directory bwi-docker

Optional commands:

command operation context
bwi-ws Set a container workspace path to source (see below) Run from anywhere on host
bwi-build Build the container image (admin only) Run from project directory bwi-docker

Persistent Data:

Only changes under the following directories will persist after a container is removed.

directory purpose and usage
projects put catkin workspaces and other dev files in this directory
base_env a place for keeping robot-specific environment variables

Before starting a container, you can add sourcing of an existing catkin workspace when opening a container shell by updating the host $WORKSPACE variable. Provide the relative path from inside the bwi-docker/projects directory. Presently only one workspace can be added this way:

bwi-ws catkin_ws

Clear this value with

bwi-ws clear

Run ROS and the BWI codebase

In the Docker container shell you can run ROS commands.

Install the BWI code base

On the host, make a catkin_ws under the "projects" directory:

cd projects && mkdir -p catkin_ws/src
cd catkin_ws/src

Install the BWI packages with vcstool:

vcs import --recursive --input https://raw.githubusercontent.com/utexas-bwi/bwi/master/rosinstall/melodic.rosinstall

Start a container and open a shell in it:

cd ../../../
bwi-start
bwi-shell

Build the packages inside the container shell:

catkin build

Don't forget to source your workspace before running packages.:

source devel/setup.bash

Note: on a V4 robot, you will additionally do sv4 after the previous step to load V4 environment variables.

Run a BWI hallway demo

Run the standard visit doors demo in AHG.

Commands should be run inside a container shell, which you can open in a running continer with

bwi-shell

When finished, exit to exit the container bash session, and then stop and remove the docker resources with:

bwi-stop

Development inside the container

A development directory called projects persists on the host when a docker container is closed. ROS Melodic workspaces can be added to this directory and built from inside the container. Their contents will persist after the container is closed.

It is best to manage files from the host, and use the container for building and running code. This is why you are instructed to use vcstool to clone git repositories onto the host machine, rather than inside the container.

Build a new image (not necessary on configured robots)

From inside the bwi-docker directory, build the Docker image:

docker compose build

# or if bash tools have been setup (see Setup)
bwi-build

The visit doors demo relies on a postgres SQL server and database. This is preinstalled on configured robots, but on new machines, you will need to set them up using postgres_docker.