/ihmc_valkyrie_ros

IHMC ROS integration for Valkyrie robot

Primary LanguageCMakeApache License 2.0Apache-2.0

#ihmc_valkyrie_ros

The ihmc_valkyrie_ros package allows for integrating the IHMC ROS API and the NASA Johnson Space Center Valkyrie humanoid in simulation and on real robot hardware.

Getting Started

This package provides several launch scripts. By default, they all use the latest stable release of IHMC Open Robotics Software as provided on JCenter/Bintray.

This software can also be used with a local build of IHMC Open Robotics Software. For more information, see the IHMC ROS Java Adapter.

##Usage

ihmc_valkyrie_ros provides the following launch files:

  • ihmc_valkyrie_scs.launch: Launch an IHMC SCS simulation environment
  • valkyrie_open_humanoids_scs.launch: Launches an IHMC SCS simulation environment designed as part of the MIT/University of Edinburgh Open Humanoids Project
  • val_diagnostic_control_robot.launch: Launches a diagnostic controller for the physical Valkyrie robot
  • val_sliderboard_control_robot.launch: Launches a sliderboard controller for the physical Valkyrie robot
  • val_wholebody_control_gazebo.launch: Launches the ihmc_ros_control based controller for use with simulations from the val_gazebo package
  • val_wholebody_control_robot.launch: Launches the ihmc_ros_control based controller for use with the physical Valkyrie robot

Using val_wholebody_control_* launch files

Some configuration must be done to use the IHMC whole-body control algorithm in the Valkyrie package. At the time of this writing, the whole-body control launch files are not integrated with Bintray or the ihmc_ros_java_adapter. You will need to do the following on the computer where the controller will be run:

  • Configuring security limits for starting realtime threads. Edit /etc/security/limits.conf and add the following (replacing [username] with your local user name):
[username]       soft    cpu     unlimited
[username]       -       rtprio  100
[username]       -       nice    40
[username]       -       memlock unlimited

  • Set up your IHMC IP Addresses. See The Network Parameters documentation for more information. Note that the wholebody launchers do not currently use the config files in the configurations directory. They use a configuration common to the IHMC field deployments, which is $HOME/.ihmc/IHMCNetworkParameters.ini. You can also use environment variables as described in the documentation. The bare minimum you will need is a logger/IHMC_LOGGER_IP set.

  • You must have a local clone of IHMC Open Robotics Software and you must "deploy" to the computer that will be running the controller. This can be accomplished via Gradle tasks. For example, to deploy locally for usage w/ Gazebo you use the deployLocal task, and for pushing code on to a Valkyrie robot you can use the deploy task.

Local deploy example:

$ cd <code clone location>
$ ./gradlew :Valkyrie:deployLocal

For the physical robot deploy task (./gradlew :Valkyrie:deploy), you will need to configure a few Gradle properties. Create/edit the file $HOME/.gradle/gradle.properties and set the following values:

#ip address of your Link computer
valkyrie_link_ip=

#ip address of your Zelda computer
valkyrie_zelda_ip=

#SSH username for the Valkyrie onboard computers:
valkyrie_realtime_username=

#SSH password for the Valkyrie onboard computers:
valkyrie_realtime_password=

Other launch files

You can set the following roslaunch args:

  • use_local_build:=<true|false>: If set to true and if you have your environment configured, this will use a local build of the IHMC software

  • ihmc_network_file:=<absolute path to network file>: Specific the network configuration .ini file for the IHMC software. See [the GitHub pages documentation](TODO fill this in) for more information

Lastly, the SCS launch can take an argument for starting position:

  • starting_location:=<STARTING POSITION>: Specify landmarks in the test environment to spawn the robot near.

Starting Positions

The starting position in the demo worlds can be defined. Currently the options are:

These are the starting location options: DEFAULT, DRC_TRIALS_TRAINING_WALKING, DRC_TRIALS_QUALS, MID_LADDER, RAMP_BOTTOM, RAMP_TOP, NARROW_DOORWAY, BARRIERS, SMALL_PLATFORM, MEDIUM_PLATFORM, ON_MEDIUM_PLATFORM, EASY_STEPPING_STONES, STEPPING_STONES, STAIRS, ROCKS, LADDER, IN_FRONT_OF_ZIGZAG_BLOCKS, SINGLE_CYLINDERBLOCKS, TOP_OF_SLOPES, DEFAULT_BUT_ALMOST_PI, IN_FRONT_OF_CINDERBLOCK_FIELD, IN_FRONT_OF_TWO_HIGH_CINDERBLOCKS, IN_FRONT_OF_CYLINDER_BLOCKS, IN_FRONT_OF_SLANTED_CINDERBLOCK_FIELD, OFFSET_ONE_METER_X_AND_Y, OFFSET_ONE_METER_X_AND_Y_ROTATED_PI, SMALL_PLATFORM_TURNED, SMALL_WALL