When developing perception algorithms for robotics, OpenCV is an excellent open source computer vision library to use. Like ROS, it has interfaces for both Python and C++ and is designed for real-time applications. ROS Kinetic actually comes with OpenCV v3.2.0. There are two packages, both available on the GitHub link from the ROS Wiki, that…Read more Using ROS with OpenCV
ROS
Getting started with ROS nodelets
ROS nodes communicate using TCP/IP protocol which might be too slow for applications that require sending large amounts of data (like 3D point clouds or video streams). For processes running on the same computer, a pointer to the data can be sent rather than sending the data itself over TCP/IO. The Intel RealSense Robotics Development…Read more Getting started with ROS nodelets
Understanding ROS and Gazebo error messages: a beginner’s guide
ROS error messages Sometimes ROS can give you really detailed error messages that you struggle to fix as a beginner. The first thing to try is roswtf. This command will run checks on your system to try find any problems (warnings and errors). Here is a non-exhaustive list of how to decipher some typical ROS…Read more Understanding ROS and Gazebo error messages: a beginner’s guide
Learning ROS – Part II
The Robot Operating System (ROS) is awesome because it allows robotics developers to share their code in a standardised fashion. Here's what I've learnt from the introductory ROS tutorials. What is ROS (in a nutshell)? ROS is a robotics framework that allows you to run software, on a robot, in a modular fashion. A typical…Read more Learning ROS – Part II
Learning ROS – Part I
Now that I have an Intel RealSense robotics development kit, which interfaces to ROS, it makes sense to actually learn it. What is ROS? ROS stands for Robot Operating System, and is a framework for developing robot software (think middleware). This series of blog posts documents my journey getting experienced with ROS. Useful resources for…Read more Learning ROS – Part I
Running Intel RealSense R200 ROS nodelet and RViz
It's finally time to connect the camera now that the UP board is set up. To connect the camera just use the cable provided in the box with the USB3 adapter already connected to the UP board. The size of the camera is impressive! It's very slim and can be attached to a surface using…Read more Running Intel RealSense R200 ROS nodelet and RViz
Getting started with the Intel RealSense Robotics Development Kit (RDK)
I’m the proud owner of an Intel Robotics Development Kit! The kit comes with a RealSense R200 3D camera, a UP board with 32GB eMMC, a USB 3 adapter, a 5V 4A power supply, USB3 and connectors. The RealSense consists of an infrared laser projection system, two infrared cameras and a full HD colour camera.…Read more Getting started with the Intel RealSense Robotics Development Kit (RDK)
Robotics. And other stuff too. 