Getting Started

Ubuntu

Hello Robot utilizes Ubuntu, an open-source Linux operating system, for the Stretch platform. If you are unfamiliar with the operating system, we encourage you to review a tutorial provided by Ubuntu. Additionally, the Linux command line, BASH, is used to execute commands and is needed to run ROS on the Stretch robot. Here is a tutorial on getting started with BASH.

Creating Workspace

Create a catkin workspace for your ROS packages. Here is an installation guide for creating a workspace. Once your system is set up, clone the stretch_tutorials to your workspace and build the package in your workspace. This can be done by copying the commands below and pasting them into your terminal.

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_tutorials.git
cd ~/catkin_ws
catkin_make

Connecting a Monitor

If you cannot access the robot through ssh due to your network settings, you will need to connect an HDMI monitor, USB keyboard, and mouse to the USB ports in the robot's trunk.

ROS Setup on Local Computer

Hello Robot is currently running Stretch on Ubuntu 20.04 and ROS Noetic. To begin the setup, start with installing Ubuntu desktop on your local machine. Then follow the installation guide for ROS Noetic on your system.

Currently, the Realsense2_description package isn't installed by rosdep and requires a user to install the package manually. Run the following command in your terminal

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-realsense2-camera

After your system is setup, clone the stretch_ros, stretch_tutorials, and realsense_gazebo_plugin packages to your src folder in your preferred workspace.

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_ros
git clone https://github.com/pal-robotics/realsense_gazebo_plugin
git clone https://github.com/hello-robot/stretch_tutorials.git

Change the directory to that of your catkin workspace and install system dependencies of the ROS packages. Then build your workspace.

cd ~/catkin_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
catkin_make

Once caktin_make has finished compiling,source your workspace and .bashrc file

echo "source /home/USER_NAME/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash"
source ~/.bashrc

RoboMaker

If you cannot dual boot and install ubuntu on your local machine, an alternative is to use AWS RoboMaker. AWS RoboMaker extends the ROS framework with cloud services. The service provides a robotics simulation service, allowing for testing the Stretch platform. If you are a first-time user of AWS RoboMaker, follow the guide here to get up and running with the service.