How to Connect to the OU TurtleBots

These instructions are designed for your use with the CSN desktop computers in Felgar Hall 300 or your own laptop computer. They refer to the machine that you are sitting at (CSN desktop computer or your own laptop computer) as the local computer and the laptop computer that is carried by the TurtleBot as the remote computer.

Preparing Your Own Laptop

If you wish to use your own laptop computer as the local computer, follow these steps. Otherwise, proceed to the steps below marked "Preparing Your CSN Account or Your Own Laptop."

1. Install Ubuntu 14.04 (or similar)
2. Install ROS Indigo
3. Add the following line to your /etc/hosts file:
   192.168.0.100 turtlebot

Preparing Your CSN Account or Your Own Laptop

If you wish to use your own laptop, please complete the steps above first, before performing the following steps. Otherwise, to prepare your CSN account, begin with the steps here.

1. Create the following directory structure:
   ~/robotics_resources/outurtle/outurtle/
2. Copy the file outurtle.zip into ~/robotics_resources/outurtle/outurtle/ and unzip it there.
3. Add the following two lines to your .*rc file:
   export ROS_PACKAGE_PATH=$ROS_PACKAGE_PATH:~/robotics_resources/outurtle
source ~/robotics_resources/outurtle/outurtle/setup-remote.sh

Connecting to an OU TurtleBot

1. Check to make sure that the following are set up correctly and ready to go:
   1. TurtleBot laptop is turned on.
   2. TurtleBot laptop is connected to its hub via Ethernet cable.
   3. TurtleBot base is turned on.
   4. Hub is powered on and shows Ethernet and wireless connections.
   5. Local computer is connected to hub via wireless. (Note that the name the hub broadcasts for wireless connections matches the name of the robot base on which it is mounted.)
2. Open a terminal on your local machine and connect to the remote machine via ssh: ssh -Y turtlebot@192.168.0.100
   (The password was given out previously. Please check with Prof Hougen or a classmate if you cannot recall the password.)

Using an OU TurtleBot

• Before you command the TurtleBot to move, be sure to unplug both the laptop and the base from their power supplies and close the laptop and stow it safely within the tower as demonstrated in class. When stowed, the laptop should not extend beyond the front of the robot's base in order to minimize the possibility of damage to the laptop.
• When you have finished using the TurtleBot, please return it to its starting location and plug in both the laptop and the base. You may leave the laptop stowed.
• Suggested commands for use with this setup can be found on Prof Fagg's OU Turtlebot Start Up page.