We are beginning with a blank Xubuntu 14.04 Trusty x64 on a Lenovo Thinkpad T520.

Setup Ubuntu environment:

• general:
  • sudo apt-get install fail2ban ufw terminator git screen
• optional:
  • sudo apt-get install vim vnstat htop bmon chromium-browser

Setup ROS desktop environment Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty:

// Source:  http://wiki.ros.org/indigo/Installation/Ubuntu

• sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu trusty main” > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list’
• wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -O – | sudo apt-key add –
• sudo apt-get update
• sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-desktop-full

Setup ~/.bashrc part I:

• source /opt/ros/hydro/setup.bash
• export ROS_MASTER_URI=”http://192.168.2.116:11311”
  • export ROS_MASTER_URI=”http://`ifconfig wlan0 | grep “inet ” | awk -F'[: ]+’ ‘{ print $4 }’`:11311″
  • export ROS_MASTER_URI=”http://`ip -f inet addr show wlan0 | grep -Po ‘inet K[d.]+’`:11311″
  • local ip 127.0.0.1 or use vpn mesh networking like: tincd
• export ROS_HOSTNAME=192.168.2.116
  • see ROS_MASTER_URI
• export ROS_IP=192.168.2.116
  • see ROS_MASTER_URI
• color_prompt=yes;
  • on top

Create catkin workspace:

// Source: http://wiki.ros.org/catkin/Tutorials/create_a_workspace

• mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
• cd ~/catkin_ws/src
• catkin_init_workspace

We will now build the empty work space:

• cd ~/catkin_ws/
• catkin_make
• source devel/setup.bash

Setup ~/.bashrc part II:

• source /home/insert-your-username/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash
• PROMPT_COMMAND=”history -a ; $PROMPT_COMMAND”
• alias exip=’curl IcanHazIp.com’

ROS Tools you should know:

• roscore // master node, start it first
• rviz // Visualization
• rqt // QT Plugin Manager
• wstool // repo management tool
• rosdep // dependency handling tool
• rosrun // start scripts
• roslaunch // start launch files
• rostopic // console management tool
• rosnode // node tools
• rosbag // record topics
• roscd // change directory to package
• rosclean // check used logfile space
• roswtf // general issue solving guide

Setup [amazon &title=Asus Xtion&text=Asus Xtion] on x86:

• sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-openni2-camera
• sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-openni2-launch
• roslaunch openni2-camera openni2.launch

Setup 9D Razor on x86:

• cd ~/catkin_ws/src
• git clone https://github.com/robotictang/razor_imu_9dof
• compile and transfer AHRS Source for Arduino FTDI Board 3.3 V
• build workspace with catkin
• roslaunch razor_imu_9dof razor.launch
  • requires root!

Important ROS Tutorial Sites:

• General: http://www.cse.sc.edu/~jokane/agitr/
  •  http://wiki.ros.org/turtlesim
  • http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials/UnderstandingTopics
• TF: http://wiki.ros.org/tf/Tutorials
• URDF: http://wiki.ros.org/urdf
• URDF R2D2: http://wiki.ros.org/urdf/Tutorials/Building%20a%20Visual%20Robot%20Model%20with%20URDF%20from%20Scratch
• Xacro: http://wiki.ros.org/urdf/Tutorials/Using%20Xacro%20to%20Clean%20Up%20a%20URDF%20File
• Python: http://wiki.ros.org/rospy/Tutorials
• C++: http://wiki.ros.org/roscpp/Tutorials
• Default Package structure: http://wiki.ros.org/Packages

Useful commands during operation:

• Show ros environment variables:
  • export | grep ROS
• Synchronize time with master, in environments without ntp server
  • ntpdate `echo $ROS_MASTER_URI | grep -oE “b([0-9]{1,3}.){3}[0-9]{1,3}b”`
  • or use chrony on suitable devices (issues with dynamic tact rates)
• Use terminal multiplexors!
  • screen, mux, terminator etc
• Hardware communication requires root
  • copy or symlink important parts of .bashrc
  • avoid ~ and prefer hardlinks