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Connect Mars Curiosity rover under Robonomics parachain control

Let's see how Robonomics Parachain control allows to make Mars Curiosity rover move. Requirements:

  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
  • ROS Melodic + Gazebo + RViz (installation manual here)
  • extra packages:
sudo apt-get install ros-melodic-gazebo-ros-control ros-melodic-effort-controllers ros-melodic-joint-state-controller
  • IPFS 0.4.22 (download from here and install)
  • Python dependencies:
pip install ipfshttpclient
  • Robonomics node (binary file) (download latest release here)
  • IPFS browser extension (optional)

Here is the video showing successful launch:

1. Set up a simulation

Download Curiosity rover package:

mkdir -p robonomics_ws/src
cd robonomics_ws/src
git clone https://bitbucket.org/theconstructcore/curiosity_mars_rover/src/master/
cd ..

We need to adjust starting conditions to make our rover spawn smoothly:

  • Go to

/robonomics_ws/src/master/curiosity_mars_rover_description/worlds and change line 14 of the filemars_curiosity.world to <pose>0 0 9 0 0 0</pose>.

  • Go to

/robonomics_ws/src/master/curiosity_mars_rover_description/launch and change line 4 of the file mars_curiosity_world.launch to <arg name="paused" default="false"/>.

Don’t forget to add source command to ~/.bashrc:

echo "source /home/$USER/robonomics_ws/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

2. Download controller package

In terminal do the following. This will download a sample script used in the demo:

cd ~/robonomics_ws/src
mkdir robonomics_sample_controller
cd robonomics_sample_controller
git clone https://github.com/PaTara43/robonomics_sample_controller
cd ../..
catkin build

3. Manage accounts in DAPP

Since we are testing, let's create a local robonomics network node with robonomics binary file:

./robonomics --dev --rpc-cors all

Important! Before next launches it is necessary to remove a directory db with

rm -rf /home/$USER/.local/share/robonomics/chains/dev/db

After a successful launch create accounts following this manual. Do not forget to save each account's seed and address! You will need them for transactions. Add these addresses, seeds and path to robonomics binary file to file config.config in robonomics_ws/src/robonomics_sample_controller/src. Transfer some money (units) to these accounts:

Balances

4. Start Robonomics

Up to now the only thing running should be the robonomics local node. In a separate terminal launch IPFS:

ifps init # you only need to do this once
ipfs daemon

In another separate terminal launch Curiosity simulation:

roslaunch curiosity_mars_rover_description main_real_mars.launch

Wait till it stays still and after that in another terminal launch the controller:

rosrun robonomics_sample_controller sample_controller.py

Curiosity

Now you can send a transaction triggering the Rover to start moving and collecting data. To do so, you should use the Robonomics IOwrite subcommand of robonomics binary file:

echo "ON" | ./robonomics io write launch -r <CURIOSITY ADDRESS> -s <EMPLOYER’S KEY>

Where <CURIOSITY ADDRESS> and <EMPLOYER’S KEY> are replaced with previously saved strings accordingly. You should see the log "Arming..." and the robot should start moving its camera and arm. Later, when the job is done (there is a log informing user when the program has finished), on the Robonomics portal go to Developer -> Chain state and add a CURIOSITY datalog using “+” button with selected datalog as state query:

Datalog

The IPFS hash of the telemetry has been saved in the blockchain. To see the data simply copy the hash and add it to the local gateway address localhost:8080/ipfs/:

Voila