Activmedia robotics Pioneer 2 User manual

Pioneer 2

PeopleBot

MOBILE ROBOTS

with Pioneer 2 Operating System Servers

COMPUTER

SYSTEMS

MANUAL

Under international copyright laws, this manual or any portion of it

may not be copied—or in any way duplicated—without the expressed written consent of

ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS.

The software on disk and on the Pioneer 2 controller ROM, which accompany the robot

and/or are available for network download by ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS’ customers, are solely

owned and copyrighted or are products of SRI International as licensed for distribution by

ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS.

Pioneer developers and users are authorized by revocable license to develop and

operate custom software for personal research and educational use only. Duplication,

distribution, reverse-engineering, or commercial application of the Pioneer software and

hardware without the expressed written consent of ActivMEDIA R

OBOTICS is explicitly

forbidden.

The various names and logos for products used in this manual are often registered

trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies. Mention of any third-party

hardware or software constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS, LLC

44 Concord Street, Peterborough, NH 03458, USA •

http://www.ActivRobots.com

603-924-9100 • Fax 603-924-2184

Pioneer 2 Mobile Robots—Computer and Software Manual, v4 June, 2001

iii

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................1

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.......................................................................................................................1

ONBOARD PC OPERATION...................................................................................................................1

LINUX ...................................................................................................................................................2

User Login............................................................................................................................... 2

Network and User Configuration Tools............................................................................... 2

GUI Desktop........................................................................................................................... 2

Network Access.................................................................................................................... 3

WINDOWS95-2000/NT........................................................................................................................3

Network Configuration......................................................................................................... 3

SERIAL PORTS........................................................................................................................................3

CHAPTER 2 SOFTWARE - LINUX .................................................................................4

ACTIVMEDIA COLOR TRACKING SYSTEM (ACTS)...................................................................................4

AYLLU...................................................................................................................................................5

BOTSPEAK.............................................................................................................................................6

SAPHIRA ...............................................................................................................................................7

STEREO VISION SOFTWARE (SVS)...........................................................................................................8

CHAPTER 3 HARDWARE –

––

–LINUX...............................................................................9

ACTIVMEDIA PAN TILT UNIT (AMPTU)...................................................................................................9

BREEZECOM WIRELESS ETHERNET............................................................................................................9

WAVELAN/IEEE (ORINOCO) PCMCIA RADIO ETHERNET....................................................................9

BT848 FRAME GRABBER DRIVERS..........................................................................................................10

P2 GRIPPER........................................................................................................................................11

SONY PTZ CAMERA............................................................................................................................11

SOUNDBLASTER COMPATIBLE PC104 SOUND CARD..............................................................................11

DUAL SOUNDBLASTER COMPATIBLE PC104 SOUND CARDS ...................................................................11

SICK LASER RANGE FINDER..................................................................................................................12

WIRELESS RADIO MODEM ...................................................................................................................12

CHAPTER 4 SOFTWARE –

––

–WIN32 .............................................................................13

ACTIVMEDIA COLOR TRACKING SYSTEM (ACTS).................................................................................13

AYLLU.................................................................................................................................................14

BOTSPEAK...........................................................................................................................................15

REMOTE ACCESS PROGRAMS..............................................................................................................15

SAPHIRA .............................................................................................................................................16

CHAPTER 5 HARDWARE –

––

–WIN32............................................................................18

ACTIVMEDIA PAN TILT UNIT (AMPTU).................................................................................................18

BREEZECOM WIRELESS ETHERNET..........................................................................................................18

BT848 FRAME GRABBER DRIVERS..........................................................................................................18

P2 GRIPPER........................................................................................................................................18

SONY PTZ CAMERA............................................................................................................................18

SOUNDBLASTER COMPATIBLE PC104 SOUND CARD..............................................................................19

SICK LASER RANGE FINDER..................................................................................................................19

WIRELESS RADIO MODEM ...................................................................................................................19

CHAPTER 6 PERFORMANCE PEOPLEBOT.................................................................20

HARDWARE ........................................................................................................................................20

SOFTWARE..........................................................................................................................................20

SONARS..............................................................................................................................................20

I/O EXPANSION BOARD AND JOYSTICK PORT.......................................................................................20

TABLETOP IR SENSORS..........................................................................................................................20

COLUMN IR BREAKBEAMS ...................................................................................................................21

IR SENSOR PROGRAMMING.................................................................................................................21

EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON AND E-STALL...............................................................................................21

GRIPPER.............................................................................................................................................22

Chapter 1 Introduction

Congratulations on your purchase of a Pioneer 2 or PeopleBot Mobile Robot from

ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS. This document describes the standard ways ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS

configures your robot’s onboard PC systems and software for use under Redhat Linux or

Microsoft Windows. This document also is a modest User’s Guide for operation of the

onboard computing systems.

Additional Resources

If you encounter any troubles with your new robot, please consult these sources before

contacting ActivMedia Robotics with support questions. These resources are available

for all ActivMedia Robotics customers, and help reduce questions about the robots.

http://robots.activmedia.com Pioneer Software and documentation

website

http://robots.activmedia.com/FAQ.html

Pioneer 2 Frequently Asked Questions

http://www.mobilerobots.com

General Robotic information, as well

as the WebPioneer

http://www.mobilerobots.com

General Robotic information

http://www.activrobots.com

General Robotic information

http://robots.activmedia.com/archives/pioneer-

users/index.html

Pioneer-users mailing list archives

http://robots.activmedia.com/archives/saphira-

users/index.html

Saphira-Users mailing list archives

http://www.amigobot.com

AmigoBot software and

documentation website

pioneer-suppo[email protected]

If something malfunctions on your

mobile robot, contact pioneer-

support for questions. This is ONLY for

robot breakdowns. Include your

robot’s SERIAL NUMBER and as

detailed a description of the problem

as possible.

Onboard PC Operation

We mount your Pioneer 2’s onboard PC inside the robot’s front nose. The system comes

complete with a high-capacity hard-disk drive for storage, onboard 10/100Base-T

Ethernet (radio Ethernet optional) for network access, an accessory sidepanel (right side

on the DX, in the AT’s center well, or on the left strut of the PeopleBot) for attachment of

a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and 10-BaseT Ethernet cable to a 10/100Mbps hub, and a

power switch and reset button. The PC is wired for control of your robot and accessories

you may have purchased, such as a laser range finder.

If you plan to work locally with your onboard computer, attach the necessary peripherals

before starting the robot. You must work from a local keyboard, mouse, and monitor at

least once to configure the onboard network.

Switch ON your robot’s Main Power and then switch ON computer power from the

sidepanel. A green LED indicates power state. The Ethernet radio accessory shares the

sidepanel’s 10-BaseT connector. Accordingly, switch the RADIO off on the robot’s

console if you attach a cable, or remove the Ethernet cable and switch the RADIO on if

you plan to communicate wirelessly.

We recommend that you attach a high-speed (4A standard) charger when working

locally. And we recommend that you put the robot up on blocks, should someone

inadvertantly engage the robot’s drive wheels.

Linux

We prefer RedHat Linux as Pioneer’s onboard OS for many reasons. Foremost among

these reasons are that Linux is very robust, comes complete with software development

tools, and includes networking features that make offboard monitoring and control of

your robot’s onboard systems much easier to accomplish.

When we installed Redhat Linux on your ActivMEDIA Mobile Robot, we configure it with

the following:

Table 1. Common networking settings

Hostname p2.activmedia.com

IP 192.168.100.32

Netmask 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway 192.168.100.1

Primary DNS 192.168.100.1

Workgroup ID (Win32) ACTIVMEDIA

User Login

We establish two users: guest and root. Neither are password protected.1

When working locally, use either root or guest to log in and access the system. Careful, of

course: root has special access priviledges that affect system-wide functions and

features of your Linux PC.

For security, when accessing the onboard PC from elsewhere on the network, you must

first login as guest or other equivalent user and then gain superuser privileges with the su

command.

Network and User Configuration Tools

Most system-wide configuration tools require that you are a superuser (root, usually) to

make any changes.

Reconfigure your Linux PC’s network with X-based /usr/bin/netcfg, or manually edit the

/etc/sysconfig/network and /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 files with emacs or

pico. Table 1 contains the default networking values we use to install and test an

onboard Linux PC. Modify the hostname, domainname, network mask, IP address, and

so on, to match your own network specifications.

Add/edit users with /usr/bin/usercfg or /sbin/adduser.

Both utilities and others also are available through the GUI-based /usr/bin/control-panel.

GUI Desktop

RedHat Linux comes with several X-Window System-based GUI desktops for point-and-

click operation of the computing environment. When connected locally with keyboard,

1Use the passwd program to change user passwords. Type passwd alone and follow the prompts to change

your login password, or as root, type passwd <username> to change another user’s password.

mouse, and monitor, type the command “startx” to enable the GUI control desktop after

logging into the system.2

Network Access

To enable your robot PC’s Linux GUI (X-Windows) over the network, first allow your

computer to host the robot’s X- displays with xhost. For example, working remotely from

“bill2”, the first set of commands establish the X-host at the local console; the next

commands establish a network telnet connection with the robot; and the final

command starts up the Saphira robot control client which display should appear on your

local display.

[bill@bill2 bill]$ xhost +p2.activmedia.com

p2.activmedia.com being added to the control list

[bill@bill2 bill]$ telnet p2

...

...(guest login)....

[guest@p2 guest]$ export DISPLAY=bill2.activmedia.com:0.0

[guest@p2 guest] saphira

Windows95-2000/NT

Unless you have purchased and installed a remote access program like Timbuktu from

Netopia (http://www.netopia.com) or the free VNC Viewer

(http://www.uk.research.att.com/VNC), you will not be able to access and operate a

Windows95-2000-based PC over the network. With caution, however, you may start up

your robot’s Windows-based PC with monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached, start the

robot application, and remove the attached peripherals to allow the robot to move

autonomously.

The default username is “msinstall” with no password.

Network Configuration

Similar with the Linux version, we configure your robot’s onboard PC for our local network

to test and exercise the systems (see Table 1). Use the Network Control Panel utililty to

change those settings to match your own LAN.

Serial Ports

/dev/ttyS0 (COM1) is for robot control (Saphira connection, for instance) and power

management (“/dev/UPS” symlink)

/dev/ttyS1 (COM2) is for a serial mouse or GPS, where applicable.

/dev/ttyS2 (COM3) Laser Range Finder

/dev/ttyS3 (COM4) Not used.

2Change to run-level 5 in /etc/inittab to automatically boot into GUI mode.

Chapter 2 Software - LINUX

ActivMEDIA ROBOTICS staff install a plethora of robotics-application and development

software with documentation on your Pioneer 2 onboard PC. Under Linux, most software

are located within their individual directories in /usr/local with rw (read/write) access by

members of the users group. Similarly, documentation is in /usr/local/doc and source

archives are in /usr/local/src.

ActivMedia Color Tracking System (ACTS)

There are two versions of ACTS, a demonstration version and a licensed version. The

demonstration version of ACTS has the full capabilities of the licensed version, minus its

client-networking capability. This means you can train colors, load images – nearly

everything pertaining to color tracking on the robot, which will give you a good picture

of how ACTS works, but you will be unable to use ACTS to have your robot react to the

color tracking system. The licensed version of ACTS, besides giving you full access to

networked clients, gives you several development tools to build your own clients, as well

as free access and updates to future versions and embellishments of ACTS. If you install

Acts, on your own, make sure to make a symbolic link from /dev/bt848 to /dev/fg0

ln –s /dev/bt848 /dev/fg0

Acts has been installed in the /usr/local/acts (/usr/local/acts-demo if you received the

demo version) on your robot’s hard drive. This directory has multiple sub-directories (less if

you have the demo version), each containing pertinent information for that directory.

The directory structure is as follows (all directories are preceded by /usr/local, but are left

out of the description:

acts/Makefile:

This file is the top level makefile. When you type “make” in this directory

it compiles the demo programs in the acts_robot and sfActs

subdirectories.

These directories do not exist in the demo version of ACTS.

acts/README:

This file contains various information on running ACTS, such as

system requirements and version information.

acts/VERSION:

This file contains information on what version of ACTS you are

currently running. This is useful to see if you are running the latest

version of ACTS. New versions will be released periodically,

and are available at our software website: http://robots.activmedia.com.

acts/acts_robot:

This subdirectory contains a demo application that connects the ACTS

server to a Saphira client program. This example, as documented in the

acts_robot.cxx file, has the Pioneer 2 Mobile Robot follow a previously

trained color object, stopping when the object or an obstacle is within a

certain range of the front of side of the robot. Type “make” in this

subdirectory to create the executable program, acts_robot.

acts/bin:

This subdirectory contains the exectuable of the ACTS server. To run the

ACTS server, cd to this directory (ie. cd /usr/local/acts/bin), then execute

the following command: ./acts &. This will start ACTS up in the

background, allowing you to run ACTS and train the system on various

colored objects. This subdirectory also contains a file, test.ppm, which is

used when you run the example training session, as described in the ACTS

manual.

acts/docs:

This subdirectory contains the ACTS manual, actsman2.pdf. The manual is

in the Acrobat reader format. To read this file under linux, you can issue

the following command: xpdf actsman2.pdf. This manual is the definitive

guide to ACTS, and should be read carefully to fully understand the

concepts behind ACTS.

acts/sfActs:

This subdirctory contains a program that is compiled into a loadable

shared object file. This file can be loaded into Saphira (from the

Programs->Load Program menu item.) It defines a Saphira process that

communicates to ACTS and sets up a series of data structures for

providing an interface to the blob information from within Colbert. Before

loading the .so file into Sahira, make sure to copy the CenterOnBall.act

file into the /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/colbert directory, to ease the

loading of the activity file. The CenterOnBall activity does just what the

name describes, it centers the robot on a colored ball.

For more information on the execution of ACTS, please consult the manual,

actsman2.pdf located in the acts/doc directory.

Ayllu

Ayllu is a tool for development of behavior-based control systems for intelligent mobile

robots. It extends subsumption-style message passing to the multi-robot domain,

provides for a wide variety of behavior-arbitration techniques, and allows a great deal of

run-time system flexibility, including dynamic reconfiguration of behavior structure and

redistribution of tasks across a group of robots as determined by either task constraints or

changing availability of resources.

Written and maintained by Barry Werger ([email protected]), Ayllu has a

standard set of basic motor-control and sensor-interpretation behaviors for the Pioneer

mobile robot. These include a base controller that takes advantage of direct wheel-

speed control to provide highly responsive, arc-based, velocity-based (rotational and

translational), and distance-based motor commands; as well as support for all Pioneer

accessories including control of vision system modes and training. Due to the nature of

Ayllu as an extendable collection of behaviors, all new versions will reamin strictly

backward compatible with earlier versions so upgrades will be painless.

Whence the name Ayllu? Ayllu is a Quechua-language term that refers to a close-knit

community, usually, but not exclusively, of kin, which engages in many mutual and

reciprocal activities. Quechua is a native language of the Andean region, spoken by

approximately 13 million people in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, and

Argentina. For information on the Quechua language, check Ullanta Perfomance

Robotics’ Quechua homepage at http://www.robotics.usc.edu/~barry/Quechua. Yes,

Ullanta comes from Quechua too.

The Ayllu directory structure is as follows:

Ayllu/AylluDemos:

This directory contains many useful demo applications for Ayllu. To make

one of the demo programs, simply type “make” followed by the name of

the program you want to make (ie. make wanderer.)

Ayllu/README

This file contains information on how Ayllu was installed on your computer,

and how to configure your system settings to recognize that Ayllu is

installed.

Ayllu/include:

This directory contains the necessary Ayllu include files for compiling Ayllu

programs.

Ayllu/lib:

This directory contains the necessary Ayllu library files, used for compiling

Ayllu programs. The easiest way to ensure that these libraries are linked

when you compile your program is to add the directory to your

LD_LIBRARY_PATH system setting (located in /etc/profile if you are using

the bash shell.)

Ayllu/makefile:

This is the top level makefile, which compiles all the programs in the

AylluDemos directory.

Ayllu/version:

This file contains the version information of the Ayllu distribution you are

using.

Botspeak

Botspeak speech synthesis/speech recognition software has been integrated with IBM’s

ViaVoice software, for use with the Pioneer2 intelligent mobile robots. We do not directly

support user-installation of this project, as it is very complicated, but we may help

unofficially. In this case, our response time may be slow. If we have installed Botspeak

on your computer, it has been fully configured and tested before you received your

robot. Botspeak uses the Inter-language unification corba-like interface provided by

Xerox. More information on ILU can be found at the Xerox ftp website:

ftp://ftp.parc/xerox.com/pub/ilu/ilu.html. The directory structure for botspeak is as

follows:

botspeak/bin:

This sub-directory contains the botspeak server. This must be run to

accomplish speech recognition and synthesis with Saphira.

botspeak/binding:

This is a required subdirectory for ILU.

botspeak/botspeak.txt:

This file contains information on how to run botspeak, and how botspeak

was installed on your system.

botspeak/example:

This subdirectory contains an example program for connecting Botspeak

to a Saphira client program. Read the README.txt file in this subdirectory

for information on how the example works. To run the example, type the

following command at the prompt: ./example. If the Saphira client

window disappears, re-run the program until it stays, then say “hello” into

the microphone.

botspeak/lib:

This subdirectory contains the libraries needed to compile and execute

botspeak enabled programs. The easiest way to ensure that these

libraries are linked during compile is to add the directory to your

LD_LIBRARY_PATH system variable (ie in the /etc/profile file if you are using

the Bash shell.)

Saphira

Saphira is a rich programming environment for developing robotics applications. Written

and maintained by Kurt Konolige, PhD, and his colleagues at SRI International, Saphira

uses fuzzy logic behaviors to control the popular Pioneer, PeopleBot and AmigoBot

robots.

You must have a Saphira environment variable setup to compile and execute Saphira

programs. If we install the software on you computer, we have pre-configured this

variable. If you are installing Saphira on a different workstation, make sure you make this

variable (ie, in /etc/profile for the bash shell: SAPHIRA=/usr/local/Saphira/ver62, if this is

your install directory.)

We install Saphira in the /usr/local/Saphira/ver62 directory on your robot. The directory

structure for Saphira is as follows:

ver62/apps:

This contains sample programs for learning how to program Saphira by

example. The various programs in this directory contain information such

as how to connect to the Pioneer 2 Mobile Robot and how to make a

window-less client program. To compile these programs, simply type

make in the directory.

ver62/bin:

This contains the binaries Saphira, a robotic client program, Pioneer, the

Pioneer simulator, as well as other binaries. The Saphira manual gives

more information on the binaries in this directory.

ver62/Colbert:

Colbert is an interactive way to program your robots. Colbert has files,

Called activities, that do not need to be compiled to execute commands

to the robot (thus, Colbert is in interpreted language). This directory is the

default location for storing the Colbert activity files, for loading into the

Colbert Evaluator. Place all activity files you create here.

ver62/devices:

This stores the modules and code for controlling devices through Saphira,

such as the SICK laser range finder and the Sony Pan Tilt Zoom camera.

ver62/handler:

This has the necessary include and library files for compiling and running

Saphira client programs. Set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH system variable to the

handler/obj directory to ease compiling programs

(ie.LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/Saphira/ver62/handler/obj)

ver62/license:

This file contains licensing information for your copy of Saphira. Please

read for information on your rights to use the software.

ver62/maps:

This directory contains maps, which can be used by your Saphira client

programs for information on the robots environment. Consult the Saphira

Users Manual for more information on using maps.

ver62/params:

This directory contains information for different types of Pioneer robots. It

has the proper hardware configurations settings (ie sonar), which allows

Saphira to take full advantage of your robots hardware.

ver62/update:

This file contains information on the changes done to this version of

Saphira from the last release version of Saphira.

ver62/version:

This file contains the version information for the Saphira in use.

ver62/worlds:

This directory contains worlds, which are simlar to maps. Please consult

the users manual for more information on utilizing worlds in Saphira.

Stereo Vision Software (SVS)

Find the stereo vision software licensed from SRI International in the /usr/local/svs14

directory of your robot, if you purchased SVS. This system is typically used with the AMPTU

with dual monochrome cameras. To test SVS, follow these steps:

1. cd to the svs bin directory: cd /usr/local/svs14/bin

2. export the following variables:

a. export SVS_DEV=1

b. export SVS_PXC_PC104=1

3. run the smallv program in the bin directory: ./smallv

3. A new window will appear, select the following option in the window:

a. Input:

video

b. Select the Contin button

After following these steps (verifying that your AMPTU is turned ON and the lens caps are

removed from the cameras, you should see live images from both the cameras

displayed in their corresponding boxes in the window. To verify that you are getting

images from each individual camera, put your hand in front of each camera (close to

the camera, so it blacks out the video window). The video window corresponding to the

camera you have your hand in front of will go black, while the other video window will

show a live image.

Chapter 3 Hardware – Linux

This section of the documentation shows the user how to run the various hardware

options (including software that drives the hardware) available on the Pioneer 2 Mobile

Robot. It is not a definitive guide to the hardware packages, but is meant as an

introduction to running the hardware. This will enable the user to quickly learn how to use

the hardware, while gaining a considerable level of knowledge on their robotic system.

ActivMedia Pan Tilt Unit (AMPTU)

The AMPTU by ActivMedia Robotics is a fully functional Pan-Tilt unit, capable of panning

90 degrees left and right, and tilting 90 degrees up and down. The software included

with the AMPTU allows the user to operate the Pan-tilt unit in the Saphira environment.

The software for the AMPTU is included in the /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/devices directory.

To test your AMPTU, follow the steps below:

1. Start a Saphira client program (ie. /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/bin/saphira)

2. Connect to your robot with the Saphira client (File->Connect->/dev/ttyS0)

3. Turn on power to your AMPTU

4. load the amptu_demo.act file from the Program->Load Program menu.

The program automatically connects to the AMPTU and delivers a series of commands to

the AMPTU. The amptu_demo.act file is located in the /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/colbert

directory, and is a good example for how to control the AMPTU within Saphira.

BreezeCom Wireless Ethernet

The Breezecom wireless Ethernet devices do not need to be configured in any way by

the customer. Simply remember to remove—if installed—the Ethernet cable attached to

the 10Base-T port and switch the RADIO ON.

To install the BreezeCom Access Point, simply connect it to a HUB in your environment

with a regular Ethernet cable, or connect directly to your workstation or laptop computer

with a crossover Ethernet cable. Once connected and powered, the Access Point will

be auto-detected by the Station Adapter (located inside the Pioneer 2), and will begin

communication. The connection should be transparent to the user.

WaveLAN/IEEE (Orinoco) PCMCIA Radio Ethernet

With Linux, you may use either the onboard Ethernet (device eth0) wired directly to a

hub, or the WaveLAN/IEEE (Orinoco) PCMCIA radio Ethernet (device wvlan0) connected

through an Access Point, but not both devices at once. The robot ships with eth0

enabled and wvlan0 disabled, although the PCMCIA card is inserted and activated. The

devices have the same IP address and hostname.

To alternately enable and disable the Ethernet devices, use the ifup and ifdown utilities.

You must be root. For example, to switch from cable to wireless:

#ifdown eth0; ifup wvlan0

Use the netcfg or linuxconfig utilities, or directly edit the /etc/sysconfig/network and

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wvlan0

files to change the device specifications.

Bt848 frame grabber drivers

We have installed the bt848 drivers in the /usr/local/bt848-1.x directory on your system.

Your system has been pre-configured to run with the PC104+ PXC200 Imagenation frame

grabber. The README in the toplevel of this directory includes information on how the

frame grabber drivers were installed. An example program, that saves a file called

rgb24.ppm, is located in the /usr/local/bt848-1.2/examples/PXC200 directory. The

example, grabreadPXC200 grabs a single frame of image, and saves it to the file. You

can view this image by using the xv program. (Ie. xv rgb24.ppm.)

P2 Gripper

The P2 Gripper software has been installed in the /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/devices

directory on your system. To test your gripper, follow the steps below:

1. Start a Saphira client program (ie /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/bin/saphira)

2. Connect to your robot with the Saphira Client (File->Connect->/dev/ttyS0)

3. From the Programs->Load Program menu item, select the p2grip.so file.

4. In the Colbert Interactive window (located at the bottom of the Saphira client

window), issue the following command: help p2grip. This will list a series of

commands you can issue to the gripper. An example is: p2grip close, which

tells the gripper paddles to close (p2grip open opens the paddles.)

Sony PTZ Camera

The Sony Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera has been fully integrated onto our Pioneer 2 Mobile

Robot. To test your Sony PTZ camera, follow the steps below (to test frame grabbing from

the camera, read the bt8xx information located in this manual.)

1. Start a Saphira client program

2. Connect to your robot with the Saphira client.

3. From the Programs->Load Program menu item, load the ptzdemo.act file.

This will start a demo program that tests the features of the Sony PTZ camera. The file that

the test program runs, ptzdemo.act, is located in the /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/colbert/

directory, and is an good example of how to control the Sony PTZ camera in your own

Saphira client program.

Soundblaster compatible PC104 sound card

Redhat linux supports the PC104 sound card in your robot. To test your sound card for

playing sounds, follow the steps below:

1. Connect a pair of speakers to the appropriately labeled wire on your robot.

2. type the following command:

cat /usr/share/sndconfig/sample.au > /dev/audio

3. You should hear Linus explaining how he pronounces linux.

To test your sound card for recording sounds, follow theses steps:

1. Connect a pair of speakers and a microphone to the appropriately labeled

wires on your robot.

2. type the following command:

dd bs=8k count=10 < /dev/audio > test.au

and speak into the microphone (the recording will last 10 seconds, the length

of “count.” This will create a file in your current working directory, called

test.au.

3. now type the following command:

cat test.au > /dev/audio

Dual Soundblaster compatible PC104 sound cards

This option is a custom add-on, usually found on PeopleBots. ActivMedia Robotics does

not support user-installation of this accessory, but has configured robots in the past for

dual sound card support. If you have a dual sound card system installed on your robot,

the following test will show you how to determine that both soundcards are functioning.

(NOTE: All software written by ActivMedia Robotics uses the first sound card on the

computer. Special software must be written by the user to take advantage of the

second sound card.)

Sound card one is configured to be /dev/audio. To test sound input from a microphone,

follow the steps for a single sound card, described above. Sound card two is configured

to be /dev/audio1. To test this sound card for sound input from a microphone, follow the

steps for a single sound card system (described above), except replace this line:

dd bs=8k count=10 < /dev/audio > test.au

with:

dd bs=8k count=10 < /dev/audio1 > test.au

We do not currently support output from both sound cards, so output must be passed to

sound card 1.

Sick Laser Range Finder

We install the software to control the SICK (pronounced seek) Laser Range Finder in the

/usr/local/Saphira/ver62/devices/sicklrf directory on your robot. To test your laser range

finder, follow the steps below:

1. Turn your robot and laser range finder on.

2. Start a Saphira client program (ie. /usr/local/Saphira/ver62/bin/saphira)

3. Connect to your robot (File->Connect->/dev/ttyS0)

4. Load the sicklrf.so file (Programs->Load Program)

5. In the Colbert Interactive window (at the bottom of the Saphira client

window) type the following command:

SfStartLRF(0,””)

This will cause the Sick LRF to power cycle, and the LED’s located on the top front of the

LRF will turn from GREEN to YELLOW/RED, back to GREEN, back to RED, then settle on

GREEN. At this time, you will see many new points on your Saphira screen. These points

(little blue squares) are returned from the laser, and indicate obstacles the laser range

finder has detected.

Wireless Radio Modem

The wireless radio modems in your robot have been configured at the factory to work in

pairs. Do NOT adjust the settings of the radio modems, as this will cause communication

failure. Simply connect the radio modem labled “HOST” to your workstation or laptop

computer, and connect through Saphire to the appropriate serial port.

Chapter 4 Software – Win32

The various robot control software are found in relevant directories on your C: boot drive.

Manuals are located in C:\Manuals.

ActivMedia Color Tracking System (ACTS)

There are two versions of ACTS, a demo version and the licensed version. The

demonstration version of ACTS has the full capabilities of the licensed version, minus its

client-networking capability. This means you can train colors, load images – nearly

everything pertaining to color tracking on the robot, which will give you a good picture

of how ACTS works, but you will be unable to use ACTS to have your robot react to the

color tracking system. The licensed version of ACTS, besides giving you full access to

networked clients, gives you several development tools to build your own clients, as well

as free access and updates to future versions and embellishments of ACTS. Microsoft

Visual C++ 6.0 is required to compile projects with ACTS.

Acts has been installed in the C:\Acts (C:\Acts-demo if you received the demo version)

folder on your robot’s hard drive. This directory has multiple sub-directories (less if you

have the demo version) each containing pertinent information for that directory. The

directory structure is as follows (all directories are preceded by /usr/local, but are left out

of the description:

Acts/README:

This file contains various information on running ACTS, such as

system requirements and version information.

Acts/VERSION:

This file contains information on what version of ACTS you are

Currently running. This is useful to see if you are running the latest

Version of ACTS. New versions will be released periodically,

And are available at our software website: http://robots.activmedia.com.

Acts/acts_robot:

This subdirectory contains a demo application that connects the ACTS

server to a Saphira client program. This example, as documented in the

acts_robot.cxx file, has the Pioneer 2 Mobile Robot follow a previously

trained color object, stopping when the object or an obstacle is within a

certain range of the front of side of the robot. Double-click on the

acts_robot.dsw file to load the project into Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0

Acts/bin:

This subdirectory contains the exectuable of the ACTS server. To run the

ACTS server, double-click on the acts.exe icon. This will start ACTS in the

background, allowing you to run ACTS and train the system on various

colored objects. This subdirectory also contains a file, test.ppm, which is

used when you run the example training session, as described in the ACTS

manual.

Acts/docs:

This subdirectory contains the ACTS manual, actsman2.pdf. The manual is

in the Acrobat reader format. To read this file double-click on the

actsman2.pdf file. This manual is the definitive guide to ACTS, and should

be read carefully to fully understand the concepts behind ACTS.

Acts/sfActs:

This subdirctory contains a program that is compiled into a loadable

shared object file. This file can be loaded into Saphira (from the

Programs->Load Program menu item.) It defines a Saphira process that

communicates to ACTS and sets up a series of data structures for

providing an interface to the blob information from within Colbert. Before

loading the .so file into Sahira, make sure to copy the CenterOnBall.act

file into the C:\Saphira\ver62\colbert (or the correct folder where you

installed Saphira) directory, to ease the loading of the activity file. The

CenterOnBall activity does just what the name describes, it centers the

robot on a colored ball.

For more information on the execution of ACTS, please consult the manual,

actsman2.pdf located in the C:\Acts\docs folder.