ECE-MAE_team7_final_project

Contributors

• Alexey Grishakov (ECE)
• Joshua Yoon (MAE)
• Micah Wang (ECE)
• Nikita Thibault (MAE)

Overview

This project is a ROS2-based autonomous vehicle system that integrates depth camera, GPS, and VESC sensors to navigate and track objects. It includes a person tracker using DepthAI, a PID controller for VESC motor control, and a search-and-rescue navigation system. The system is designed to operate in a Docker container for portability and reproducibility.

System architecture

Wiring diagram

flowchart LR
    BAT[Battery] --> AS[Anti-spark switch]

    AS --> |14.8V| VESC[VESC]
    AS --> |14.8V| DCDC_RPI[DC/DC converter]
    AS --> |14.8V| DCDC_USB[DC/DC converter]
    AS --> |14.8V| SCB[Servo control board]

    VESC --> MOTOR[Motor]
    MOTOR -->|hall sensors| VESC

    DCDC_RPI --> |5V| RPI[Raspberry Pi]
    DCDC_USB --> |5V| DONGLE[USB dongle]
    DONGLE <--> |USB| P1[Point One Nav]
    DONGLE <--> |USB| OAKD[OAK-D Lite]

    VESC -->|servo control input| SCB
    SCB --> SERVO[Servo]

    VESC -->|USB| RPI
    DONGLE -->|USB| RPI

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ROS2 system diagram

flowchart TD
    OAK[OAK-D Camera]
    GPS[GPS Runner / UDP Input]

    subgraph TS[track_search ROS 2 package]
        direction TB

        subgraph PER[Perception and tracking]
            direction TB
            CAM[tracker_camera_node]
            PID[tracker_pid_node]
            CAM -->|/tracking_error| PID
        end

        subgraph NAV[GPS and search]
            direction TB
            GPSBRIDGE[gps_runner_bridge_node / gps_udp_bridge_node]
            WAYPOINT[gps_waypoint_node]
            SEARCH[search_nav_node]
            GPSBRIDGE -->|/fix| WAYPOINT
            WAYPOINT -->|/gps/local_pose| SEARCH
        end

        MODE[control_mode_node]
        MUX[cmd_vel_mux_node]
        VESC[vesc_twist_node]

        CAM -->|mode requests| MODE
        MODE -->|/tracker/control_mode| CAM
        MODE -->|/tracker/control_mode| SEARCH
        MODE -->|/tracker/control_mode| MUX

        PID -->|/cmd_vel_tracker| MUX
        SEARCH -->|/cmd_vel_nav| MUX
        CAM -->|search tuning and recenter| SEARCH

        MUX -->|/cmd_vel| VESC
    end

    OAK --> CAM
    GPS --> GPSBRIDGE
    VESC --> DRIVE[Motor and steering output]

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Setup instructions

GPS setup ROS2 Docker setup Running Container

Configuring GPS module

1. Install uv

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

2. configure permissions:

sudo adduser $USER dialout
sudo reboot

3. Clone gps repo:

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/UCSD-ECEMAE-148/quectel
cd ~/quectel
uv init
uv add -r p1_runner/requirements.txt
uv add pyserial fusion_engine_client pynmea ntripstreams websockets
echo "3.10" >> .python-version
cd

4. Reset and configure the gps module:

uv run --directory ~/quectel ~/quectel/p1_runner/bin/config_tool.py reset factory
uv run --directory ~/quectel ~/quectel/p1_runner/bin/config_tool.py apply uart2_message_rate nmea gga on
uv run --directory ~/quectel ~/quectel/p1_runner/bin/config_tool.py save

5. Verify that everything works

uv run --directory ~/quectel ~/quectel/p1_runner/bin/runner.py --device-id <YOUR_USERNAME> --polaris <YOUR_PASSWORD> --device-port /dev/ttyUSB1

Should start outputting readings.

ROS2 Docker setup

Assuming x11 installed and working on RPI and Laptop

ssh -X -Y user@rpihostname

Fix X11 permissions

xhost +local:root

set udev rules:

echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="03e7", MODE="0666"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/80-movidius.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

pull docker container:

docker pull algrish2/ros2-kilted:ver-2-with-final-proj

proper docker command:

docker run \
    --name ros2 \
    -it \
    --privileged \
    --net=host \
    -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY \
    --volume /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb \
    --device-cgroup-rule='c 189:* rmw' \
    --device /dev/video0 \
    --volume="$HOME/.Xauthority:/root/.Xauthority:rw" \
    --volume /etc/passwd:/etc/passwd:ro \
    --volume /etc/group:/etc/group:ro \
    algrish2/ros2-kilted:ver-2-with-final-proj

install uv

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

clone repo into src:

cd /home/projects/ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/miw069/ECE-MAE_team7_final_project.git
cd ECE-MAE_team7_final_project
mv track_search ../
cd ..
rm -rf ECE-MAE_team7_final_project

install proper venv for this project/package.

cd /home/projects/ros2_ws
uv venv .venv --seed
source .venv/bin/activate
uv add \
  colcon-common-extensions \
  numpy \
  opencv-python \
  PyYAML \
  depthai \
  depthai-nodes \
  lap \
  ultralytics \
  "git+https://github.com/LiamBindle/PyVESC" \
  pyserial

Fix the pyvesc package by commenting out lines 41 and 42 in .venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pyvesc/VESC/VESC.py

        # check firmware version and set GetValue fields to old values if pre version 3.xx
        version = self.get_firmware_version()
        # if int(version.split('.')[0]) < 3:       <- This line
        #    GetValues.fields = pre_v3_33_fields   <- This line

To be able to include packages when building:

source /home/projects/ros2_ws/.venv/bin/activate

You can now build any packages you want, and add any packages to your project using the same UV add approach.

Running project systems

In a separate terminal run the command below See below how to set up the gps module for this command to work.

uv run --directory ~/quectel ~/quectel/p1_runner/bin/runner.py \
  --device-id rQ2gKIc6 \
  --polaris Li48DbiF \
  --device-port /dev/ttyUSB0 \
| stdbuf -oL python3 -c 'import socket,sys; s=socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM); [s.sendto(line.encode(), ("127.0.0.1", 10110)) for line in sys.stdin if "LLA=" in line]'

Now on your main terminal (ssh into rpi with x11 support):

ssh -X -Y user@rpihostname

Turn on container:

xhost +local:root
docker start ros2
docker exec -it ros2 bash

In the container:

cd /home/projects/ros2_ws
source .venv/bin/activate # ensures that the correct build environment is used for packages such as depthai
colcon build --symlink-install && source /opt/ros/$ROS_DISTRO/setup.bash && source /home/projects/ros2_ws/.venv/bin/activate && source /home/projects/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash && ros2 launch track_search track_search.launch.py

To start the system after building simply:

ros2 launch track_search track_search.launch.py