Book Image

ROS Robotics Projects - Second Edition

By : Ramkumar Gandhinathan
Book Image

ROS Robotics Projects - Second Edition

By: Ramkumar Gandhinathan

Overview of this book

Nowadays, heavy industrial robots placed in workcells are being replaced by new age robots called cobots, which don't need workcells. They are used in manufacturing, retail, banks, energy, and healthcare, among other domains. One of the major reasons for this rapid growth in the robotics market is the introduction of an open source robotics framework called the Robot Operating System (ROS). This book covers projects in the latest ROS distribution, ROS Melodic Morenia with Ubuntu Bionic (18.04). Starting with the fundamentals, this updated edition of ROS Robotics Projects introduces you to ROS-2 and helps you understand how it is different from ROS-1. You'll be able to model and build an industrial mobile manipulator in ROS and simulate it in Gazebo 9. You'll then gain insights into handling complex robot applications using state machines and working with multiple robots at a time. This ROS book also introduces you to new and popular hardware such as Nvidia's Jetson Nano, Asus Tinker Board, and Beaglebone Black, and allows you to explore interfacing with ROS. You'll learn as you build interesting ROS projects such as self-driving cars, making use of deep learning, reinforcement learning, and other key AI concepts. By the end of the book, you'll have gained the confidence to build interesting and intricate projects with ROS.

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Table of Contents (14 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Getting Started with ROS
Getting Started with ROS
Technical requirements
Getting started with ROS
Fundamentals of ROS
ROS client libraries
ROS tools
ROS simulators
Installing ROS Melodic on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Setting up ROS on VirtualBox
Introduction to Docker
Setting up the ROS workspace
Opportunities for ROS in industries and research
Summary
2
Introduction to ROS-2 and Its Capabilities
Introduction to ROS-2 and Its Capabilities
Technical requirements
Getting started with ROS-2
Fundamentals of ROS-2
ROS-2 client libraries (RCL)
ROS-2 tools
Installing ROS-2
Setting up the ROS-2 workspace
Writing ROS-2 nodes
Bridging ROS-1 and ROS-2
Summary
3
Building an Industrial Mobile Manipulator
Building an Industrial Mobile Manipulator
Technical requirements
Understanding available mobile manipulators
Applications of mobile manipulators
Getting started building mobile manipulators
Building the robot base
Getting started building the robot arm
Putting things together
Summary
4
Handling Complex Robot Tasks Using State Machines
Handling Complex Robot Tasks Using State Machines
Technical requirements
Introduction to ROS actions
Waiter robot analogy
Introduction to state machines
Introduction to SMACH
Getting started with SMACH examples
Summary
5
Building an Industrial Application
Building an Industrial Application
Technical requirements
Application use case – robot home delivery
Making our robot base intelligent
Making our robot arm intelligent
Simulating the application
Improvements to the robot
Summary
6
Multi-Robot Collaboration
Multi-Robot Collaboration
Technical requirements
Understanding the swarm robotics application
Swarm robot classification
Multiple robot communication in ROS
Introduction to the multimaster concept
A multi-robot use case
Summary
7
ROS on Embedded Platforms and Their Control
ROS on Embedded Platforms and Their Control
Technical requirements
Understanding embedded boards
Introduction to microcontroller boards
Introduction to single-board computers
Debian versus Ubuntu
Setting up ROS on Tinkerboard S
Setting up ROS on BeagleBone Black
Setting up ROS on Raspberry Pi 3/4
Setting up ROS on Jetson Nano
Controlling GPIOS from ROS
Benchmarking embedded boards
Getting started with Alexa and connecting with ROS
Summary
8
Reinforcement Learning and Robotics
Reinforcement Learning and Robotics
Technical requirements
Introduction to machine learning
Understanding reinforcement learning
MDP and the Bellman equation
Reinforcement learning algorithms
Reinforcement learning in ROS
Summary
9
Deep Learning Using ROS and TensorFlow
Deep Learning Using ROS and TensorFlow
Technical requirements
Introduction to deep learning and its applications
Deep learning for robotics
Deep learning libraries
Getting started with TensorFlow
Image recognition using ROS and TensorFlow
Introducing to scikit-learn
Introduction to SVM and its application in robotics
Summary
10
Creating a Self-Driving Car Using ROS
Creating a Self-Driving Car Using ROS
Technical requirements
Getting started with self-driving cars
Components of a typical self-driving car
Simulating and interfacing self-driving car sensors in ROS
Simulating a self-driving car with sensors in Gazebo
Interfacing a DBW car with ROS
Introducing the Udacity open source self-driving car project
Summary
11
Teleoperating Robots Using a VR Headset and Leap Motion
Teleoperating Robots Using a VR Headset and Leap Motion
Technical requirements
Getting started with a VR headset and Leap Motion
Designing and working on the project
Installing the Leap Motion SDK on Ubuntu 14.04.5
Visualizing Leap Motion data in RViz
Creating a teleoperation node using the Leap Motion controller
Building a ROS-VR Android application
Working with the ROS-VR application and interfacing with Gazebo
TurtleBot simulation in VR
Troubleshooting the ROS-VR application
Integrating the ROS-VR application and Leap Motion teleoperation
Summary
12
Face Detection and Tracking Using ROS, OpenCV, and Dynamixel Servos
Face Detection and Tracking Using ROS, OpenCV, and Dynamixel Servos
Technical requirements
Overview of the project
Hardware and software prerequisites
Configuring a Dynamixel servo using RoboPlus
Interfacing Dynamixel with ROS
Creating face tracker ROS packages
Working with the face-tracking ROS package
Summary
13
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Hardware and software prerequisites

The following lists the hardware components that are required for building this project:

  • Webcam
  • Dynamixel AX-12A servo with mounting bracket
  • USB-to-Dynamixel adapter
  • Extra 3-pin cables for AX-12 servos
  • Power adapter
  • 6-port AX/MX power hub
  • USB extension cable

If you are thinking that the total cost is not affordable, then there are cheap alternatives to do this project too. The main heart of this project is the Dynamixel servo. We can replace this servo with RC servos, which only cost around $10, and an Arduino board costing around $20 can be used to control the servo too. The ROS and Arduino interfacing will be discussed in the upcoming chapters, so you can think about porting the face tracker project using an Arduino and RC servo.

Okay, let's look at the software prerequisites of the project. The prerequisites include the ROS framework...

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