EPMC (Easy PID Motor Controller) ROS2 Hardware Interface Package

This the ROS2 Hardware Interface Package for the EPMC (Easy PID Motor Controller) Module (i.e L298N EPMC Module or any Custom EPMC Interface Board) with ROS2 in a PC or microcomputer, after successful setup with the epmc_setup_application.

How to Use the Package

Prequisite

• ensure you've already set up your microcomputer or PC system with ROS2

• install the libserial-dev package on your linux machine

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt install libserial-dev

• install rosdep so you can install necessary ros related dependencies for the package.

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt install python3-rosdep
  sudo rosdep init
  rosdep update

How to build the epmc_ros_hw_plugin plugin package

• In the src/ folder of your ros workspace, clone the repo (or you can download and add it manually to the src/ folder)

  git clone https://github.com/robocre8/epmc_ros_hw_plugin.git

• from the src/ folder, cd into the root directory of your ros workspace and run rosdep to install all necessary ros dependencies

  cd ../
  rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

• build the epmc_ros_hw_plugin package with colcon (in the root folder of your ros workspace):

  colcon build --packages-select epmc_ros_hw_plugin

Note

The epmc_ros_hw_plugin package will now be available for use in any project in your ros workspace. You can see example of how the use the epmc_ros_hw_plugin in the example_control_file

Sample robot test

• Please check out the demo_bot package to see a proper sample of how the EPMC is used.

Serial port check for the EPMC Module

• ensure the Easy PID Motor Controller (EPMC) Module (i.e L298N EPMC Module or any Custom EPMC Interface Board), with the motors connected and fully set up for velocity PID, is connected to the microcomputer or PC via USB.

• check the serial port the driver is connected to:

  The best way to select the right serial port (if you are using multiple serial device) is to select by path

  ls /dev/serial/by-path

  you should see a value (if the driver is connected and seen by the computer), your serial port would be -> /dev/serial/by-path/[value]. for more info visit this tutorial from ArticulatedRobotics

  • OR you can also try this:

  ls /dev/ttyU*

  you should see /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyUSB1 and so on

• once you have gotten the port, update the port parameter in the <ros2_control> tag in the URDF's epmc_ros2_control.xacro

• you can the build and run your robot.

• Good Luck !!!