Running an OpenMower simulation

Introduction

You can test the OpenMower software stack yourself by running a simulation where you can record a map and then have it mowed.

It's a bit rough around the edges, but it's a good way to see the software in action without hardware.

This mini-HOWTO is meant to save you a bit of detective work and get you started, not to be a comprehensive guide to the simulation.

Prerequisites

You need the OpenMower software on a platform that has a graphical interface for rviz to be able to run and show the map. Ubuntu 20 is a good choice, possibly on VM, VirtualBox is an excellent choice, if you do not already have a running Ubuntu 20 desktop environment.

• Install ROS on Ubuntu: http://wiki.ros.org/noetic/Installation/Ubuntu - use the full install
  • Note: make sure that you have ROS environment set up in your terminal by echo "source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc and log out and back in.
• Install the OpenMower software: Use the instructions here: Setting up ROS on a Raspberry Pi (intended to be the Rover -- OpenMower)
  • Make sure that you have had catkin_make succeed (may take a few tries, often 4 or more)

You need to have a game controller for controlling the simulated bot.

Making sure the OpenMower environment is sourced

Whenever you are doing anything in a terminal with OpenMower, you need to make sure that ROS knows your OpenMower workspace.

In every terminal that you use: source ~/OpenMower/ROS/devel/setup.sh

Running the simulation

Recording a map

Attach your joystick to a USB port. If you are on a VirtualBox, make sure that the USB port is mapped into your Ubuntu environment.

Open a terminal and execute

roslaunch ~/OpenMower/ROS/src/open_mower_ros/open_mower/launch/sim_record_area.launch