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ROS package for Terabee Follow-Me and Terabee Robot Positioning System

This package is a ROS wrapper for positioning_systems_api contained in positioning_systems_api package. It enables easy use of Terabee Follow-Me system in ROS environment.

Supported hardware

This package works with Terabee Follow-Me and Terabee Robot Positioning System.

Dependencies

This package depends on positioning_systems_api version 1.5.6 or newer.

Please follow the instructions in positioning_systems_api README file to build and install.

Building the packages

Clone the repository into your workspace:

  • If you have ssh key setup for your github account:
cd ~/ros_ws/src
git clone [email protected]:Terabee/positioning_systems_ros.git
  • If you prefer to use https use this set of commands:
cd ~/ros_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/Terabee/positioning_systems_ros.git

Navigate to your workspace and build:

cd ~/ros_ws
catkin build
source devel/setup.bash

Nodes

follow_me_master_beacon

With this node you can receive data (distance in meters and heading in degrees) from the system. It is intended to use with master beacon connected to the computer.

It provides following configuration options of the system:

  • switching between text and binary printout modes,
  • swapping beacons,
  • setting Exponential Moving Average filter number of samples (window size),
  • setting span between the beacons (in millimeters),
  • settings parameters for RS485 connection (Modbus slave id, baudrate, parity).

Running the node

After your workspace is built and sourced, you can run the node (set _portname to the actual port name where the master beacon is connected:

rosrun positioning_systems_ros follow_me_master_beacon _portname:=/dev/ttyACM0

Subscribed topics

This node subscribes to the following topics:

  • /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_autocalibrate : publishing to this topic activates span autocalibration mode
  • /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_config : publishing to this topic sets parameters: printout mode, swap beacons, EMA filter window, span between the beacons
  • /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_rs485_config : publishing to this topic sets slave id, baudrate and parity of RS485 interface
  • /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_test_cmd : publishing to this topic triggers test command which returns actual configuration of the device

Example 1 of usage:

rostopic pub /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_config positioning_systems_ros/FollowMeDriverConfig "printout_mode: 'Binary'
swap_beacons: true
ema_window: 10
beacons_span: 540"

Sets binary printout mode, swaps beacons, sets EMA filter to 10 samples and beacons span to 540 mm.

Example 2 of usage:

rostopic pub /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_rs485_config positioning_systems_ros/FollowMeDriverRS485Config "rs485_slave_id: 3
rs485_baudrate: 19200
rs485_parity: 2"

Sets Modbus RTU slave id to 3, baud rate to 19200 and parity to 2 (Even).

To see list of valid values for each parameter, open respective *.msg file.

Published topics

This node publishes to the topic:

  • /follow_me_master_beacon/follow_me_polar_point_2d : provides distance and heading of the remote control with respect to the beacons

follow_me_remote_control

This node is intended to use with remote control connected to the computer.

It provides following configuration options of the remote control:

  • setting button operation mode (hold, toggle)
  • setting buzzer operation (enabled, disabled)

Running the node

After your workspace is built and sourced, you can run the node (set _portname to the actual port name where the master beacon is connected:

rosrun positioning_systems_ros follow_me_remote_control _portname:=/dev/ttyUSB0

Subscribed topics

This node subscribes to the following topics:

  • /follow_me_remote_control/follow_me_get_config : publishing to this topic triggers command which returns actual configuration of the remote control
  • /follow_me_remote_control/follow_me_set_config : publishing to this topic sets remote control configuration (button mode and buzzer state)

Example of usage:

rostopic pub /follow_me_remote_control/follow_me_set_config positioning_systems_ros/FollowMeRemoteControlConfig "button_mode: 'Hold'
buzzer_active: false"

Sets button mode to Hold and deactivates buzzer.

To see list of valid values for each parameter, open respective *.msg file.

rtls_configurator_ros

With this node and provided launch file configure_device.launch you can configure connected device using one of the provided YAML files, for example:

roslaunch positioning_systems_ros configure_device.launch file:=config/rtls_anchor_0.yaml

will configure the device as the initiator anchor with priority number set to 0.

rtls_tracker_node

With this node you can read the tracker position output when the tracker device is connected.

Published topics

This node publishes to the topic:

/rtls_tracker_node/rtls_tracker_frame

which provides a custom message:

RtlsAnchorData[] anchors
geometry_msgs/Point position
bool is_valid_position

with list of anchors data as embedded message:

uint16 id // anchor id
geometry_msgs/Point position // position of anchor
float64 distance // distance from anchor to tracker

position of tracker: geometry_msgs/Point position and validity of message: bool is_valid_position set to false if unable to parse tracker output or the device was unable to provide valid tracker position.

Transform broadcast

The node broadcasts tf2 transforms with positions of anchors and tracker, based on the data read from the tracker.

Launch file parameters

Provided launch file tracker_reader.launch has already predefined following parameters:

  • portname - name of serial port device, e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0
  • publish_tf - whether transforms of anchors and tracker should be broadcasted
  • ref_frame - reference frame name for the broadcasted transforms

Example

A basic subscriber is available in subdirectory examples.

In order to use the package in your own node, do the following:

In CMakeLists.txt add the package name positioning_systems_ros to find_package and catkin_package commands.

In package.xml add:

<build_depend>positioning_systems_ros</build_depend>

and

<exec_depend>positioning_systems_ros</exec_depend>