141 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
141 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
# Robot setup
|
|
|
|
This file explains how to setup the software for the robots. It assumes that you already assembled your robot according to the instructions in [1_ASSEMBLY.md](https://imaginaerraum.de/git/Telos4/RoboRally/src/branch/master/docs/1_ASSEMBLY.md) and that you updated the firmware of the motor shield as described in [2_MOTOR_SHIELD_FIX.md](https://imaginaerraum.de/git/Telos4/RoboRally/src/branch/master/docs/2_MOTOR_SHIELD_FIX.md).
|
|
|
|
Before we start, stack the D1 mini ontop of the battery shield and connect it to your computer using a micro USB cable:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Flash Micropython to the Wemos D1 mini
|
|
The first step is to flash the micropython firmware to the D1 mini.
|
|
You can download the latest micropython firmware for the ESP8266 from [here](http://micropython.org/download#esp8266). I used version _esp8266-20190125-v1.10.bin_ but you can also use a more recent version.
|
|
The firmware can be flashed on the D1 mini using the following commands:
|
|
```
|
|
$ esptool.py --port /dev/ttyUSB0 erase_flash
|
|
$ esptool.py --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --baud 460800 write_flash --flash_size=detect 0 esp8266-20190125-v1.10.bin
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Communicating with the D1 mini
|
|
After flashing the firmware we can access the python prompt on the microcontroller using a serial communication program such as picocom.
|
|
|
|
On Ubuntu you can install this with
|
|
```
|
|
$ sudo apt-get install picocom
|
|
```
|
|
Connect using picocom:
|
|
```
|
|
$ picocom /dev/ttyUSB0 -b115200
|
|
```
|
|
First we enable WebREPL on the microcontroller which allows us to easily upload files and debug the robots via WiFi.
|
|
*(I will use `>>>` in order to indicate commands which should be issued in the Micropython prompt)*
|
|
```
|
|
>>> import webrepl_setup
|
|
```
|
|
-> choose enable, set a password and choose reboot
|
|
|
|
Now we set up an access point on the D1 mini:
|
|
```
|
|
>>> import network
|
|
>>> ap_if = network.WLAN(network.AP_IF)
|
|
>>> ap_if.active(True)
|
|
>>> ap_if.ifconfig() # this prints the IP
|
|
```
|
|
The default password for this access point is: `micropythoN`
|
|
|
|
Alternatively, you can also connect to an existing wifi network using:
|
|
```
|
|
>>> import network
|
|
>>> sta_if = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)
|
|
>>> sta_if.active(True)
|
|
>>> sta_if.connect("<SSID>", "<PW>")
|
|
>>> sta_if.ifconfig() # this prints the IP
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Join the same WiFi network with your PC (either the access point or the local network) and connect to the D1 mini via the [online WebREPL](http://micropython.org/webrepl):
|
|
Enter IP from above and click connect. Login with the password you set for the WebREPL.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Making settings permanent
|
|
In order to avoid having to set up the WebREPL and the WiFi everytime we reboot the robot we can upload a file called boot.py which runs each time the robot restarts:
|
|
|
|
- Find the file `boot.py` in the `micropython_firmware/` subfolder and edit the lines indicated with `# TODO`. In particular, set the wifi network, password and IP addresses. You should choose a unique IP address for each robot
|
|
```
|
|
# TODO: edit these lines
|
|
network_name = 'Your WiFi network' # existing wifi network to connect to (leave empty if unused)
|
|
password = 'Your password' # password for the network
|
|
desired_ip = '192.168.1.101' # the robot will be reachable by this IP in the network
|
|
subnet = '255.255.255.0'
|
|
gateway = '192.168.1.1'
|
|
dns = '192.168.1.1'
|
|
# TODO end edit
|
|
```
|
|
- Upload boot.py via WebREPL
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Now the robot will automatically connect to WiFi network you set and start a WebREPL server after reboot.
|
|
|
|
*Note: If the WiFi network cannot be found the microcontroller will instead open an access point.*
|
|
|
|
### Upload robot firmware
|
|
Next, upload the motor controller script to the microcontroller. At the moment the firmware consists of the following three files located in `micropython_firmware/`:
|
|
|
|
- `main.py` Main script handling network communication and control
|
|
- `d1motor.py` Interface for the Wemos D1 mini motor shield
|
|
- `l293dmotor.py`Interface for alternative motor driver using L293D (no longer used)
|
|
|
|
You can upload these files the same way you did before with the WebREPL. After uploading all the files reboot the microcontroller by pressing the reset button or by pressing `Ctrl+D` in the WebREPL prompt.
|
|
|
|
### Test the robot
|
|
Now it's time to test if everything is working fine.
|
|
|
|
- Disconnect the USB cable from the microcontroller and connect the battery to the battery connector:
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Next, connect the two motors of the robot to the motor shield according to the following sketch:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Test if you can reach the robot using
|
|
```
|
|
$ ping 192.168.1.101
|
|
```
|
|
*Note: Make sure you use the correct IP address for your robot.*
|
|
|
|
- If everything worked, connect to the robot via WebREPL as before. Don't worry if the prompt does not appear to be working. The robot is running a program waiting for incoming connections for remote control.
|
|
We can connect to the robot via a socket on port `1234`. There is a simple demo program which illustrates how to control the robot remotely via keyboard. The program uses `pygame` for input handling so make sure to install it using
|
|
```
|
|
$ sudo pip install pygame
|
|
```
|
|
The program is located in the `remote_control/`. Run it using
|
|
```
|
|
$ python keyboard_controller.py 192.168.1.101
|
|
```
|
|
When running the program you should see an output in the WebREPL that a connection was established.
|
|
You can use the arrow keys for sending commands to the microcontroller which it then passes on to the motors.
|
|
|
|
Now you're all set up for controlling your robot remotely via wifi.
|
|
You can control the robot by sending commands to the robot as a string containing `'(u1, u2)\n'`, where `u1` and `u2` are floats in the range `[-1.0, 1.0]`, e.g. `'(0.3, -0.6)\n'`.
|
|
Have a look at the `keyboard_controller.py` script to see how this works in python.
|
|
|
|
### Isolating the electronics
|
|
Since the mounting plates of the robot are made of metal it is a good idea to put some isolation around the electronics. You can use some isolation tape to cover the exposed pins:
|
|
|
|
|
|
You can also add some velcro tape to the electronics, the battery and the robot to easily attach and remove the microcontroller from the robot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Charging the battery
|
|
In order to charge the battery of the robot just plug a micro USB cable into the USB port of the battery shield.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Next steps
|
|
The next step is to setup the position detection using ROS. For this see the [4_ROS_SETUP.md](https://imaginaerraum.de/git/Telos4/RoboRally/src/branch/master/docs/4_ROS_SETUP.md)
|