Deployment of Robotic Total Stations (RTS)

Deployment Tutorial: Setting Up Robotic Total Stations (RTS)

Introduction

This tutorial outlines the step-by-step process for deploying Robotic Total Stations (RTS) with the warthog robot. The deployment involves setting up the total stations, a resection procedure, collecting and exporting data of the experiment.

Before Deployment

Checklist:

• RP master, debugging box
• RP client (3)
• Robotic Total Station box (3)
• Batteries box (small yellow box) (3)
• Prisms (3)
• Tripods (3)
• Mouse, keyboard, and monitor
• Warthog
• Warthog remote controller
• GPS

Pre-deployment tasks:

1. Check prisms screw fixation on Warthog.
2. Charge all necessary equipment including Warthog, remote controller, total station batteries, prism batteries, Raspberry Pi power bank, and GPS.

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Day of deployment

0. SSH Config

Host theodolite-master
   HostName 192.168.0.241
   User pi
   Port 22

Host warthog-high-level
    Hostname 192.168.0.3
    User robot

1. Installation Setup (30 minutes - 1 hour)

1. Place all equipment outside to acclimate to outdoor temperatures for at least 30 minutes.
2. Position the reference GPS antenna in a static location and activate it.
3. Power up the Warthog computer and its router.
4. Prepare the field for total station setup, ensuring a firm ground surface.
5. Secure tripods firmly and level them approximately by eye.
6. Activate the GPS unit on the Warthog.
7. Mount the total stations on tripods and align them roughly.
8. Power up each Raspberry Pi client and position them near the assigned total station without connecting the USB yet.
9. Power up the Raspberry Pi master and fix it on the Warthog securely.
10. Precisely level the total stations using software, calibrate the compensator, and re-level with software.
11. Close and reopen the total stations manually.
12. After 2-3 minutes, connect the Raspberry Pi clients to the total stations via USB.
13. Verify total stations can track their assigned prisms.
14. Check GPS for receiving corrections from the reference antenna.
15. Connect to the master Raspberry Pi via SSH.
16. Ensure the master can receive data from the clients using roslaunch theodolite_node theodolite_master.launch.

2. Resection Step

1. SSH into the master Raspberry Pi (theodolite_master).

ssh theodolite_master

2. Launch the theodolite_node calibration protocol using:

roslaunch theodolite_node theodolite_prism_calibration.launch

3. Follow the script instructions, moving the Warthog to different positions for measurements.
4. Take measurements around the setup if possible, in a circular motion at distances between 3m to 60m.
5. After measurements, close the node (Ctrl+D).
6. Verify if data are saved in /home/pi/.ros/theodolite_prism_calibration.txt.
7. Copy the file to a folder in /home/pi/Documents to prevent accidental deletion.

3. Data acquisition with Total Stations

ssh theodolite_master

1. Launch the theodolite_node on the master:

roslaunch theodolite_node theodolite_master.launch

2. View collected data in the topic 'theodolite_data':

rostopic echo /theodolite_master/theodolite_data

3. Check the status index for:
   • Status 0: prism followed.
   • Status 1: total station not properly leveled.
   • Status 2, 3: software bugs.
   • Status 4: prism not found.

4. Recording data

1. Record theodolite_master data with rosbag:

rosbag record -a

2. Launch sensors on warthog-high-level:

ros2 launch warthog_mapping sensors.launch.xml

3. Record warthog-high-level sensor data:

screen -S record
ros2 launch warthog_mapping record_sensors.launch.py

5. Exporting data

1. Transfer ROS1 rosbags from theodolite_master:

scp theodolite_master:/home/pi/<rosbag-name> <your-local-path>

2. Transfer ROS2 rosbags from warthog-high-level:

scp -r warthog-high-level:/home/robot/<rosbag-name> <your-local-path>

TO DO : * Take the resection file in the Raspberry Pi master

Troubleshooting mcap rosbag2 :

sudo apt install ros-humble-rosbag2-storage

After the deployment

Unmount the Setup but DON'T REMOVE THE PRISMS !!!!

Calibration

1. Mount one total station in the workshop/garage (don't need the Raspberry Pi), put the total station at a high height.

If the prism are on the Warthog, use the jack to level up the Warthog on one side. Need to do this because the marker on the GPS are no clearly seen by the total station

2. Measure each prism/marker manually with the total station, write every measurement on a paper (Horizontal and vertical angle, distance and all of their uncertainties).

Don't forget to charge the equipment.