TurtleBot 4 Robot

The turtlebot4_robot repository contains packages that are used only by the physical robot, not the user computer.

Source code is available here.

Installation

The turtlebot4_robot metapackage is pre-installed on the TurtleBot 4 Raspberry Pi image.

If a robot computer needs to be set up from scratch without using the provided Raspberry Pi image, please refer to the instructions in the Readme file on the TurtleBot 4 setup repository.

Source installation

Note

Source installation is an alternative to the debian package and should only be used if the debian package cannot be used or if modifications are being made to the source code.

To manually install this metapackage from source:

Warning

ROS 2 Galactic is no longer supported. Please consider upgrading to a newer release

Clone the repository into your workspace:

cd ~/turtlebot4_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/turtlebot/turtlebot4_robot.git -b galactic
  

Install dependencies:

cd ~/turtlebot4_ws
rosdep install --from-path src -yi
  

Build the packages:

source /opt/ros/galactic/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
  

Next, the workspace must be sourced.

Clone the repository into your workspace:
```
cd ~/turtlebot4_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/turtlebot/turtlebot4_robot.git  -b humble
```
Install dependencies:
```
cd ~/turtlebot4_ws
rosdep install --from-path src -yi
```
Build the packages:
```
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
```
Next, the workspace must be sourced. Source the workspace on the robot by running the turtlebot4-setup tool and under ROS Setup set the workspace as the path to your workspace's setup.bash (/home/ubuntu/turtlebot4_ws/install/setup.bash).
Clone the repository into your workspace:
```
cd ~/turtlebot4_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/turtlebot/turtlebot4_robot.git  -b jazzy
```
Install dependencies:
```
cd ~/turtlebot4_ws
rosdep install --from-path src -yi
```
Build the packages:
```
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
```
Next, the workspace must be sourced. Source the workspace on the robot by running the turtlebot4-setup tool and under ROS Setup set the workspace as the path to your workspace's setup.bash (/home/ubuntu/turtlebot4_ws/install/setup.bash).

Base

The turtlebot4_base package contains the source code for the rclcpp node turtlebot4_base_node which runs on the physical robot. This node interfaces with the GPIO lines of the Raspberry Pi which allows it to read the state of the buttons, as well as write to the LEDs and display.

Note

This node is only used on the standard TurtleBot 4 model.

Publishers:

Topic	Message Type	Description
hmi/buttons	turtlebot4_msgs/msg/UserButton	Button states of the TurtleBot 4 HMI

Subscribers:

Topic	Message Type	Description
hmi/display	turtlebot4_msgs/msg/UserDisplay	The current information that is to be displayed
hmi/led/_[led]	std_msgs/msg/Int32	Hidden topics indicating the state of each LED

GPIO Interface

The TurtleBot 4 uses libgpiod to interface with the GPIO lines of the Raspberry Pi. The gpiochip0 device represents the 40-pin header of the Raspberry Pi and is used for reading and writing to these pins.

I2C Interface

The linux I2C drivers are used to read and write data on the I2C buses of the Raspberry Pi. The display's SSD1306 driver is connected to the i2c-3 device by default, but other buses are available too.

SSD1306

The SSD1306 is a driver for OLED displays. It receives commands over a communication bus (I2C for the TurtleBot 4) and controls how the physical display behaves. The TurtleBot 4 uses a modified version of this STM32 SSD1306 driver to write pixels, shapes and characters to the display.

Configuration

Warning

Do NOT change pin definitions if you are using the standard PCBA or do not know what you are doing.

The turtlebot4_base_node pin definitions can be set with ROS parameters. The default configuration is:

turtlebot4_base_node:
  ros__parameters:
    # GPIO definition for HMI. Do NOT change if you are using the standard PCBA.
    gpio:
      user_button_1: 13
      user_button_2: 19
      user_button_3: 16
      user_button_4: 26

      led_green_power: 17
      led_green_motors: 18
      led_green_comms: 27
      led_green_wifi: 24
      led_green_battery: 22
      led_red_battery: 23
      led_green_user_1: 25
      led_green_user_2: 6
      led_red_user_2: 12

      display_reset: 2
  

Note

The value for each GPIO device is the GPIO number, NOT the pin number.

Bringup

The turtlebot4_bringup package contains the launch and configuration files to run the robots software.

Launch files:

Joy Teleop: Launches nodes to enable the bluetooth controller.
OAKD: Launches the OAK-D nodes.
RPLIDAR: Launches the RPLIDAR node.
Robot: Launches the TurtleBot 4 nodes.
Lite: Launches all necessary nodes for the TurtleBot 4 Lite.
Standard: Launches all necessary nodes for the TurtleBot 4.

Config files:

TurtleBot 4 Controller: Configurations for the TurtleBot 4 controller.
TurtleBot 4: Configurations for the turtlebot4_node and turtlebot4_base_node.

Robot Upstart

The robot uses the robot_upstart package to install the bringup launch files as a background service that launches when the robot starts. The launch files are located under the turtlebot4_bringup package.

Warning

ROS 2 Galactic is no longer supported. Please consider upgrading to a newer release

Robot upstart commands:

Command	Bash	Description
Stop	`sudo systemctl stop turtlebot4`	Kill all nodes launched by the service. The service will start again on reboot if it is not uninstalled.
Start	`sudo systemctl start turtlebot4`	Launch all nodes if the service is inactive
Restart	`sudo systemctl restart turtlebot4`	Kill all nodes launched by the service, then launch again
Install	`install.py model [ROS_DOMAIN_ID]` (v0.1.2) `install.py model --domain [ROS_DOMAIN_ID]` (v0.1.3)	Install the service. Optionally, set the ROS_DOMAIN_ID.
Uninstall	`uninstall.py`	Uninstall the service. The nodes will no longer be launched on boot.
Status	`sudo systemctl status turtlebot4`	View the current status of the service, and recent logs.
View Logs	`sudo journalctl -u turtlebot4 -r`	View the latest logs from the service.

Use the TurtleBot 4 setup tool to manage robot_upstart:
```
turtlebot4-setup
```
Navigate to ‘ROS Setup', then ‘Robot Upstart'. Use the various menu options to start, stop, uninstall, or reinstall the upstart job.

Manage robot_upstart with the TurtleBot 4 setup tool

The setup tool will automatically reinstall the robot_upstart job when certain settings are changed.
Use the TurtleBot 4 setup tool to manage robot_upstart:
```
turtlebot4-setup
```
Navigate to ‘ROS Setup', then ‘Robot Upstart'. Use the various menu options to start, stop, uninstall, or reinstall the upstart job.

Manage robot_upstart with the TurtleBot 4 setup tool

The setup tool will automatically reinstall the robot_upstart job when certain settings are changed.

Diagnostics

The turtlebot4_diagnostics packages contains the source code and launch files for the TurtleBot 4 diagnostics updater.

Launch files:

Diagnostics: Launches the turtlebot4 diagnostics updater and the diagnostic aggregator node.

Diagnostics Updater

The diagnostics updater is a Python3 node that runs on the robot. It subscribes to diagnostic topics and records statistics specific to each topic. The diagnostic data is viewable with rqt_robot_monitor.

Warning

ROS 2 Galactic is no longer supported. Please consider upgrading to a newer release

Diagnostic topics:

Topic	Message Type	Description
battery_state	sensor_msgs/msg/BatteryState	Battery voltage and percentage
color/preview/image	sensor_msgs/msg/Image	OAK-D color camera data
dock	irobot_create_msgs/msg/Dock	Dock status
hazard_detection	irobot_create_msgs/msg/HazardDetectionVector	Create® 3 Hazards
imu	sensor_msgs/msg/Imu	IMU data
mouse	irobot_create_msgs/msg/Mouse	Mouse sensor data
scan	sensor_msgs/msg/LaserScan	RPLIDAR laser scan data
wheel_status	irobot_create_msgs/msg/WheelStatus	Wheels enabled status

Diagnostic topics:

Topic	Message Type	Description
battery_state	sensor_msgs/msg/BatteryState	Battery voltage and percentage
color/preview/image	sensor_msgs/msg/Image	OAK-D color camera data
dock	irobot_create_msgs/msg/DockStatus	Dock status
hazard_detection	irobot_create_msgs/msg/HazardDetectionVector	Create® 3 Hazards
imu	sensor_msgs/msg/Imu	IMU data
mouse	irobot_create_msgs/msg/Mouse	Mouse sensor data
scan	sensor_msgs/msg/LaserScan	RPLIDAR laser scan data
wheel_status	irobot_create_msgs/msg/WheelStatus	Wheels enabled status

Diagnostic topics:

Topic	Message Type	Description
battery_state	sensor_msgs/msg/BatteryState	Battery voltage and percentage
color/preview/image	sensor_msgs/msg/Image	OAK-D color camera data
dock	irobot_create_msgs/msg/DockStatus	Dock status
hazard_detection	irobot_create_msgs/msg/HazardDetectionVector	Create® 3 Hazards
imu	sensor_msgs/msg/Imu	IMU data
mouse	irobot_create_msgs/msg/Mouse	Mouse sensor data
scan	sensor_msgs/msg/LaserScan	RPLIDAR laser scan data
wheel_status	irobot_create_msgs/msg/WheelStatus	Wheels enabled status

Viewing diagnostics:

ros2 launch turtlebot4_viz view_diagnostics.launch.py

Diagnostics data captured with rqt_robot_monitor

Tests

The turtlebot4_tests packages contains the source code for the TurtleBot 4 system test scripts. These scripts test basic functionality of the robot and are useful for troubleshooting issues.

ROS Tests

The ROS tests use ROS topics and actions to test various system functionality. Test results are saved to ~/turtlebot4_test_results/Y_m_d-H_M_S where Y_m_d-H_M_S is the date and time of the test. A rosbag is also recorded for the duration of the test and saved to the same location.

Currently supported tests:

Light Ring: Test the Create® 3 light ring
Create® 3 Button: Test the Create® 3 buttons
User LED: Test the HMI LEDs (TurtleBot 4 model only)
User Button: Test the HMI buttons (TurtleBot 4 model only)
Display: Test the HMI display (TurtleBot 4 model only)
Dock: Test the robots ability to undock and dock.

Running the tests:

ros2 run turtlebot4_tests ros_tests

This will launch a CLI menu where the different tests can be run.

Enter the index of the test and hit enter to start the test. Some tests will run automatically while others require user input.