Rhoeby

Rhoeby is a ROS-enabled, Navigation-capable hexapod robot based on the Robotis Bioloid kit. It supports SLAM, Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance using low-cost, light-weight 2D Scanning technology available from Rhoeby Dynamics (see website: http://www.rhoeby.com).

Video

Package Summary

The ROS driver is implemented as a single node which performs all publishing and subscribing functions. This helps to reduce the processing load on lesser-capable systems.

Author: John Jordan, Rhoeby Dynamics

License: BSD.

Source:

https://github.com/Rhoeby/hexapod_ros

Published Topics

/laser_data

• Data from Rhoeby 2D Scanner

/odom

• Odometry from hexapod base

/imu_data

• Data from the phone

Subscribed Topics

/cmd_vel

• Velocity commands to hexapod

Hardware Used

• Robotis Bioloid "Spider" chassis (with custom legs)
• Robotis Cm9.04 MCU board
• Nexus 4 phone provides IMU (and tele-prescence camera)
• Rhoeby Dynamics R2D Infra-Red LiDAR Scanner
• Bluetooth link to robot for command and status back
• Remote laptop running ROS Indigo

Software Features

• 3-DOF Inverse Kinematic leg control
• Holonomic-capable gait
• Odometric feedback
• ROS node for robot control

Installation

The hexapod_ros package has been tested on: ROS Hydro, ROS Indigo releases.

ROS driver code on github:

• https://github.com/Rhoeby/hexapod_ros

CM9.04 binary on github:

• https://github.com/Rhoeby/hexapod_ros

ROS Package installation:

1. install robot_pose_ekf
2. copy hexapod_ros into catkin workspace
3. do 'catkin_make'

Other:

Download SensoDuino app to phone (Nexus 4, or other Android device), see:

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.techbitar.android.sensoduino

Running

1. Start roscore:

• roscore

2. Connect to phone (after starting SensoDuino):

• sdptool add --channel=22 SP rfcomm listen /dev/rfcomm1 22

3. Run the hexapod_ros node:

• rosrun hexapod_ros hexapod_ros

4. Start gmapping (for example):

• roslaunch src/hexapod_ros/launch/gmapping.launch model:=src/hexapod_ros/urdf/hexapod_01.urdf