ROSbot ( 2R | 2 PRO | 2 ) | Husarion (2024)

Overview​

ROSbot is a ROS powered 4x4 drive autonomous mobile robot platform equipped with LIDAR, RGB-D camera, IMU, encoders, distance sensors available in three version: "2R", "2 PRO" and "2" (deprecated).

ROSbot is an affordable robot platform for rapid development of autonomous robots. It can be a base for custom service robots, inspection robots and robots working in swarms. All versions integrates:

• 4-wheels mobile platform containing DC motors with encoders and an aluminum frame
• Orbbec Astra RGBD camera
• MPU 9250 inertial sensor or BNO055 (accelerometer + gyro)
• rear panel providing interfaces for additional modules

ROSbot versions​

ROSbot is available in three options which, next to features mentioned before, also include:

Gazebo Simulation Model​

You can also test the performance of ROSbot using our simulation model in Gazebo environment. It is available here, at our GitHub page.

You can find free ROS tutorials dedicated for ROSbot under this link. They will guide you through different aspects of programming autonomous vehicles in ROS

Hardware guide​

Specification​

Components​

Components description​

Rear panel description​

Power supply​

ROSbot is powered from an internal, rechargeable Li-Ion battery pack that contains 3 Li-Ion cells, connected in series. This type of connection is called “3S”. The schematic below explains how the cells are wired together and with the charging connector (on ROSbot side).

The BAT+ and BAT- are the power connections and the “bal Bxx” wires are used to monitor the voltage on each cell. It is strongly recommended to keep equal voltages on each cell during the charging process. The charger included with ROSbot can charge batteries in the described way and, thanks to that, the long life of the battery set is possible.

The nominal voltage of each cell is 3.7V but the useful range is 3.2V to 4.2V.

Important - discharge indicatorIf only the right firmware is preloaded to the internal controller (CORE2), the LED1 is programmed to indicate the power status:

• the LED1 is on when the robot is turned on
• the LED1 is blinking when battery is low – please charge immediately!

Please make sure that the user firmware always contains the function that monitors the supply voltage level. Deep discharging of batteries may decrease their lifecycle. Discharging to the voltage lower than 3.0V/cell can also trigger the over discharge protection. If the voltage is too low, turn ROSbot off and charge batteries as soon as possible.

Charging ROSbot​

The ROSbot kit contains the Redox Beta charger. It is an universal charger, suitable for charging NiCd, NiMH, Li-Po, Li-Fe, Li-Ion and Pb (AGM, VRLA) batteries. ROSbot shall be charged using an included charger and cable.

Charger kit includes:

• Redox Beta charger
• AC/DC power adapter 100...240V to 12V 5A with 5.5/2.5mm plug on the 12V side
• a cable to connect charger with ROSbot charging port

Quick charging guide:

1. Connect the power adapter to the charger and the output cable between charger and ROSbot (2 connectors on charger side, 1 black connector to ROSbot charging port).
2. Use red and blue buttons to select “LiPo BATT” mode and press [Start].
3. Use arrows to select “LiPo CHARGE” mode.
4. Press [Start] - the current value should start blinking. Use arrows to set the current to 1.5A.
5. Press [Start] again - the voltage value should start blinking. Select “11.1V(3S)” using arrows. The picture below shows the desired result.
6. Press and hold [Start] for 2 seconds. The charger should now ask for confirmation. Press [Start] again. The charging process should begin now.
7. When the charging will be finished (after about 3 hours), the charger will generate a loud “beep” sound and will finish charging at the same time.

If you need more information about charging, please read the Charging manual for ROSbot in PDF format.

Notes

• You can change charging current to maximum 3A. Please note that a regular charging with the maximum current can shorten the battery life.
• If you are going to use ROSbot stationary for a long time, you can use ROSbot with charger or power supply connected all the time. Please see the Charging manual for ROSbot for details.
• In case you need to replace batteries, use only 18650 Li-Ion batteries, with the capacity in a range of 1800...3500mAh and with a protection circuit! Using unprotected batteries may result in serious injuries or fire.
• Unplug charging connectors carefully. You shall not unplug the charger connectors holding the wires. The balancer connection on ROSbot side has a latching tab (see photo below) that must be pressed before unplugging. On the charger side there is no latching tab but you should also unplug this connector holding the white plug.

Software​

Software for ROSbot can be divided into 2 parts:

• A low-level firmware that works on the real-time controller (CORE2). It can be developed using Visual Studio Code IDE.
• OS based on Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04, which runs on the SBC (Raspberry Pi 4, UP Board, or Asus Tinker Board) and contains all components needed to start working with ROS or ROS 2 immediately. The microSD card or MMC memory with OS is included with each ROSbot. The OS has been modified to make the file system insensitive to sudden power cuts.

ROS 2 / ROS packages and Docker containers​

All software on ROSbot XL are based on docker containers. List of available containers you can find here.

ROS 2 / ROS API​

ros2 run micro_ros_agent micro_ros_agent serial -D $SERIAL_PORT serial -b 576000

External documentation​

• Orbbec Astra camera API is documented in driver repository.

• Slamtec RpLidar scanner API is documented in driver repository.

System reinstallation​

In some cases you will need to restore ROSbot system to its default settings:

• in case of accidental damage of the system,
• to update the OS (it can be updated remotely, but flashing the microSD card can be easier sometimes),
• to clear all user changes and restore factory settings.

This process will differ depending on ROSbot version that you have. Find the full instruction here

Connect ROSbot to your Wi-Fi network​

At first ROSbot need to be connected to your Wi-Fi network.

Option 1: Using display, mouse and keyboard​

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

sudo nano /etc/netplan/01-network-manager-all.yaml

network:
 version: 2
 renderer: networkd

 ethernets:

 all-eths:
 match:
 name: eth*
 dhcp4: no
 dhcp6: no
 addresses:
 - 192.168.77.2/24

 wifis:

 wlan0: # external USB Wi-Fi card (with antenna)
 dhcp4: true
 dhcp6: true
 optional: true
 access-points:
 "PLACE_YOUR_WIFI_SSID_HERE":
 password: "PLACE_YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD_HERE"

sudo netplan apply

sudo iwgetid

sudo ifconfig

Option 2: Using an Ethernet adapter​

Access ROSbot terminal using wireless connection​

Connecting over LAN network​

While ROSbot is connected to a Wi-Fi network, you can access it by using its IPv4 address by SSH:

ssh husarion@ROSBOT_IP

Connecting over the internet (optional)​

You can access the robot not only in LAN but also over the Internet. The connection is based on Husarnet VPN.

Learn how to do it here.

Low level firmware installation​

In the heart of each ROSbot there is a CORE2 board equipped with STM32F4 family microcontroller. The board is responsible for real time tasks like controlling motors, calculating PID regulator output or talking to distance sensors. High level computation is handled by SBC (single board computer) - Asus Tinker Board (in ROSbot 2), UP Board (in ROSbot 2 PRO) or Raspberry Pi 4 (in ROSbot 2R).

In order to use ROSbot you have to flash ROSbot's CORE2 board with low level firmware.

The firmware running on STM32F4 microcontroller is open source and available on GitHub. There are:

• supported ROS 2 firmware
• updeveloped ROS firmware.

SSH to ROSbot over LAN network or VPN to get access to it's Linux terminal.

docker kill $(docker ps -q)

docker container prune -f

ROS / ROS 2 Tutorials​

Reference projects​

Here is an example map generated with the rosbot-autonomy project.

Docs and links​

All helpful documents and links in one place:

• ROSbot Safety Instructions - important!
• ROSbot limited warranty terms and conditions - important!
• Charging manual for ROSbot
• ROSbot block diagram
• ROS tutorials for ROSbot
• ROSbot wheel swap manual
• ROSbot 2 PRO on ROS webpage
• ROSbot 2 on ROS webpage
• URDF model of ROSbot - for Gazebo integrated with ROS
• ROSbot project on hackaday.io
• ROSbot project on instructables.com