ROS 1 Getting Started

Installing ROS 1

Note

The ROS 1 Interbotix SLATE packages are only compatible with Noetic on Ubuntu 20.04.

Follow the Ubuntu install of ROS Noetic guide on the ROS Wiki.

Configuring Port Permissions

The SLATE uses a USB-Serial converter to communicate with the host computer.

Remove brltty to prevent it from claiming the device:

$ sudo apt-get remove brltty

Add your user to the dialout group:

$ sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

Reboot your computer to apply the changes:

$ sudo reboot

Installing the Interbotix ROS SLATE Packages

Clone the repository and remove the CATKIN_IGNORE file:

$ mkdir -p ~/interbotix_ws/src
$ cd ~/interbotix_ws/src
$ git clone -b noetic https://github.com/Interbotix/interbotix_ros_core.git
$ rm ~/interbotix_ws/src/interbotix_ros_core/interbotix_ros_slate/CATKIN_IGNORE

Install dependencies:

$ sudo rosdep init
$ rosdep update
$ cd ~/interbotix_ws
$ rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

Build the workspace:

$ source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash
$ cd ~/interbotix_ws
$ catkin_make

Running the Driver

Turn on the SLATE and connect it to your computer via USB. Configure your terminal environment and run the ROS master node:

$ source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash
$ source ~/interbotix_ws/devel/setup.bash
$ roscore

Open another terminal and run the driver:

$ source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash
$ source ~/interbotix_ws/devel/setup.bash
$ rosrun interbotix_slate_driver slate_base_node

If successful, you should see output similar to the following:

INFO console [uart.cpp:77 uart_open_no_block]; Open Serial Port!
INFO console [uart.cpp:79 uart_open_no_block]; fd->open=; 10
INFO console [serial_driver.cpp:31 init]; open the uart port success; /dev/ttyUSB0
[ INFO] [1738191485.305142044]: Initialized base at port '/dev/ttyUSB0'.
[ INFO] [1738191485.310998047]: Base version: 1.0.0

For more detailed usage of the driver, please refer to ROS 1 Interface Operation. See Troubleshooting for common issues and solutions.