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Simulation Labs

Overview

For this assignment you will work through some of our 6-part ROS 2 course, each part of which comprises a series of step-by-step instructions and exercises to teach you how ROS 2 works, and introduces you to the core principles of the framework. The exercises give you the opportunity to see how to apply these principles to practical mobile robot applications.

This part of the course is designed to be completed in simulation, so you will therefore need access to a ROS 2 installation, which can either be installed on your own machine, or accessed on a range of managed computers across the University of Sheffield campus. See here for more information on how to access or install ROS 2.

As detailed below, Parts 1-3 of this course are essential for ELE434, Part 4 is recommended and Parts 5 & 6 are optional; covering more advanced topics that you may wish to complete to further your own knowledge, if you're keen to do so! The essential parts of the course will provide you with all the necessary skills for the Real Robot Labs, where you will work in teams to program our real TurtleBot3 Waffle robots in Diamond Computer Room 5.

The Course

  • Part 1: Getting Started with ROS 2 (Essential)

    Learn the basics of ROS 2 and become familiar with some key tools and principles, allowing you to program robots and work with ROS 2 applications effectively.

  • Part 2: Odometry & Navigation (Essential)

    Learn about Odometry, which informs us of a robot's position and orientation in an environment. Apply both open and closed-loop velocity control methods to a Waffle.

  • Part 3: Beyond the Basics (Essential)

    Execute ROS applications more efficiently using launch files, and learn how to affect the behaviour of nodes during run-time using parameters. Learn about the LiDAR sensor, the data that it generates, and see the benefits of this for tools like "SLAM".

  • Part 4: Services (Recommended)

    Learn about an alternative way that ROS nodes can communicate across a ROS network, and the situations where this might be useful.

  • Part 5: Actions (Optional)

    Learn about another key ROS communication method which is similar to a ROS Service, but with a few key benefits and alternative use-cases.

  • Part 6: Cameras, Machine Vision & OpenCV (Optional)

    Learn how to work with images from a robot's camera. Learn techniques to detect features within these images, and use this to inform robot decision-making.

Assessment

This part of the course is worth 20% of the overall mark for ELE434, and is assessed via an on-campus Blackboard-based test taking place in week 7 of the Spring Semester (see Blackboard and/or your timetable for the exact date & time).