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First version of 18.04 upgrade documentation
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erelson committed Feb 12, 2019
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44 changes: 40 additions & 4 deletions source/computer.rst
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Expand Up @@ -48,12 +48,13 @@ same subnet.
====================== =============
Device IP Address
====================== =============
Computer eth1 10.42.42.1
Laser range finder 10.42.42.10
Mainboard 10.42.42.42
Gripper 10.42.42.43
====================== =============

There are two possible interfaces for connecting to the robot
There are two possible interfaces for external connecting to the robot
computer: the wireless interface and the wired interface. Most users
will prefer to use the wireless interface, however the access panel
also includes a Gigabit Ethernet interface for stationary tasks that
Expand All @@ -64,10 +65,45 @@ require higher bandwidth.
Never drive the robot with an Ethernet cable attached to the access panel.

Connecting the Robot to a Wireless Network
------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The easiest way to configure the wireless networking is to connect a monitor,
keyboard, and mouse and use the Network Manager interface.
keyboard, and mouse and use Ubuntu's Network Manager interface.

Configuring the Robot to use a Static IP for Access Panel Ethernet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 14.04: Edit and uncomment the section for eth0 in ``/etc/network/interfaces``

For 18.04: Edit and uncomment the section for eth0 in ``/etc/netplan/99-fetch``

After making changes, restarting the robot will ensure changes for the ethernet
port take effect.

Troubleshooting ROS Interactions with Robot Across a Network
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
External networking with the robot is typically done to provide
an interface to various ROS capabilities. To ensure a working network setup
between robot and PC, reference the following guide to the ROS_MASTER_URI
and ROS_HOSTNAME environment variables. A key recommendation is to use hostnames
instead of IP addresses for ROS_MASTER_URI and ROS_HOSTNAME. This will minimize
issues with e.g. DHCP not being present or unexpectedly changing network behavior.

.. figure:: _static/fetch_ros_ntwk.png
:width: 100%
:align: center
:figclass: align-centered

Note that the ROS_HOSTNAME is unneeded in the case where the robot and
computer hostnames are addressable on the local network. (E.g. via DNS
or entries in the file ``/etc/hosts``)

A symptom of an incomplete setup may be that some ROS commands work, while others
do not. Commands (such as ``rostopic list``, ``rosservice list``) retrieve
information through the connection they create,
while other commands (``rostopic echo``, many components in ``rviz``) attempt
to tell the robot a location to send info to via future connections.

For a more in-depth general overview of robot-to-PC networking, see also the
`ROS Network Setup Tutorial <http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/NetworkSetup>`_.

Clock Synchronization
---------------------
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions source/index.rst
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Expand Up @@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Fetch & Freight Manual
robot_hardware
computer
care_and_feeding
indigo_to_melodic

Tutorials
---------
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196 changes: 196 additions & 0 deletions source/indigo_to_melodic.rst
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ROS Melodic + Ubuntu 18.04
==========================

Upgrading Your Robot to ROS Melodic + Ubuntu 18.04
--------------------------------------------------
.. WARNING::
Read this document in full to ensure you understand the procedures. It is
not straightforward to go back to ROS Indigo/Ubuntu 14.04 after doing this.
Ensure your colleagues are on board with doing this upgrade.

This document is a procedure for replacing the contents of your robot's SSD
with an Ubuntu 18.04 install and ROS Melodic.

Before Upgrade
++++++++++++++

Back up files from the robot! There are a few categories of files to back up:

#. Calibration and other robot-specific files. By convention, these are
all in ``/etc/ros/[indigo|melodic]/``
#. Files relating to your research work
#. A record of what packages you installed for ROS Indigo
#. Network hardware configuration (for troubleshooting)

Below, we assume that after logging into the robot (e.g. via `ssh`) you back up
files to a machine named HOST with username USER.

For (1), we recommend doing::

tar -zcf fetch_robot_files.tar.gz /etc/ros/indigo/
scp fetch_robot_files.tar.gz USER@HOST:~/

For (2), this may include workspaces, logs, and training data.

For (3), you can easily record the list of packages you installed via::

dpkg -l | grep ros-indigo > installed_indigo_packages.txt

As well, you might want to record what repositories are part of your workspaces.

For (4), this file may be useful for reference::

scp /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules USER@HOST:~/$(hostname)_udev_net_rules

If you are using any additional hardware (sensors), be sure to record what network
or other hardware configuration changes were made to get them working.


18.04 Install and Installing ROS/Fetch Packages
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

.. IMPORTANT::
Back up your files as described in the previous section

#. **Runstop the robot**, to avoid unexpected movement of the robot.
#. Download the latest 18.04 Ubuntu installer from http://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04/
(in these instructions we use the Desktop image, version 18.04.1). Install Ubuntu
18.04 on the robot.
For help booting from USB, see `Accessing Boot Menu on Fetch Robots`_.
#. Install ROS Melodic by following the instructions `on the ROS Wiki <http://wiki.ros.org/melodic/Installation/Ubuntu>`_.
We start from the ROS-Base setup, via the ``ros-melodic-ros-base`` package.
#. **NOTE**: at a later time, Fetch will host and recommend a mirror of ROS Melodic debians.
#. Run the following to install Fetch research debians:

- General packages for Fetch robots::

sudo apt install ros-melodic-fetch-calibration ros-melodic-fetch-open-auto-dock \
ros-melodic-fetch-navigation ros-melodic-fetch-tools

- Then install packages specific to the robot type::

export ROBOTTYPE=$(hostname | awk -F'[0-9]' '{print $1}')
# sudo apt install $ROBOTTYPE-melodic-config # pending future availability
wget https://packages.fetchrobotics.com/binaries/$ROBOTTYPE-melodic-config.deb
sudo dpkg -i $ROBOTTYPE-melodic-config.deb

#. From your non-robot computer, restore the contents of /etc/ros/indigo to /etc/ros/melodic on the robot::

scp fetch_robot_files.tar.gz fetch@fetchXXX:~/
ssh fetch@fetchXXX
sudo mkdir -p /etc/ros/melodic
tar -xzf ~/fetch_robot_files.tar.gz /etc/ros/melodic/

#. Power cycle the robot::
sudo /sbin/reboot


Post-install Validation
+++++++++++++++++++++++
This is a direct continuation of the previous section's procedure. It is assumed
that your robot is still runstopped.

Verify that things are working. All of the following steps assume that you are
``ssh``'d into the robot::

ssh fetch@fetchXXXX

#. Verify that calibration is installed, e.g. a date should be output if you run the command below::

fetch@fetch3:~$ calibrate_robot --date
2018-11-26 14:48:04

#. Verify that the robot can ping the mainboard and the laser::

ping 10.42.42.42 # mainboard
ping 10.42.42.10 # laser

If not, see `Ensuring robot's ethernet ports are configured correctly`_

#. Verify that the Primesense camera is working (if working with a Fetch robot)::

rostopic list head_camera | wc -l

This should output 32, if everything is working fine.

#. At this point, unrunstop the robot.

#. The gripper should now have power, so we should be able to ping it::

ping 10.42.42.44 # gripper

#. The arm's "gravity compensation" should now be working. You should be able to
freely move the arm by hand.

#. Check whether your PS3 controller pairs and controls the robot.

**Important note**: for 18.04 the robots have switched from using sixad to using
PS3joy. Some changes in behaviour you may see:

- The LEDs on the PS3 controller may continually blink, even though it is connected.
- Inputs may not be sent from the PS3 controller if the accelerometers in the
controller do not detect motion.

#. At this point the robot is probably working fine and is ready for use!

Compatibility of Other Computers Used with the Robot
----------------------------------------------------

For working with a robot running ROS Melodic, we recommend using an 18.04 Ubuntu
machine that also has ROS Melodic installed.

- In order for the robot to appear correctly in RViz, you will want to:

- Ensure your computer is pointed at the packages.ros apt sources
- Install ``ros-melodic-fetch-description`` and ``ros-melodic-freight-description``
packages. Addtionally you might want to install
`ros-melodic-fetch-tools <https://github.com/fetchrobotics/fetch_tools>`_.
- Ensure that these packages are included in your path (e.g.
``rospack find fetch_description`` returns a path)

Not Recommended/Supported: Upgrading from 14.04 to 18.04 (via 16.04)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Fetch Robotics does not recommend this approach and *cannot* provide support for this.
However, if you desire to try to upgrade, the following may be helpful:

- Back up files as described above, or even the full disk if you like.
- You cannot upgrade Ubuntu directly from 14.04 to 18.04. You must first
upgrade to 16.04 first. This can take a long time.
- You should review the postinstall script for ``fetch-melodic-config``. It is not
targeted at upgrading a system, so additional tweaks may be required after
installing it.


Appendices
----------

Ensuring robot's ethernet ports are configured correctly
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The robot has two ethernet ports on its computer. You can find more information on this
at `Computer Overview and Configuration <computer.rst>`_.

The most likely problem you may encounter after getting 18.04 installed is if these two
ports are "swapped". You can fix this in software or in hardware:

- Software: Edit ``/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules`` and swap ``eth0``
and ``eth1``. Restart the robot for the change to take effect.
- OR: Hardware: swap the two ethernet cables where they plug into the computer (less
optimal solution).


Changes from
Manually creates udev rules and updates grub boot arguments to ensure
consistent network device naming across different hardware. Uses
netplan to set static IP for internal robot communications.


Accessing Boot Menu on Fetch Robots
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fetch research robots may be using one of two BIOS flavors. Older robots use
an MSI branded BIOS. Newer robots use American Megatrends Inc. (AMI).

- If your robot shows the MSI splash screen at boot, press F11 to access the boot menu.
- If your robot shows the black AMI splash screen at boot (this lasts for about 1 second),
press F7 to access the boot menu.

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