create_robot

ROS driver for iRobot Create 1 and 2. This package wraps the C++ library libcreate, which uses iRobot's Open Interface Specification.

• ROS wiki page: http://wiki.ros.org/create_robot
• Support: ROS Answers (tag: create_robot)
• Author: Jacob Perron (Autonomy Lab, Simon Fraser University)

Build Status

• ROS Rolling (branch: rolling)
• ROS Iron (branch: iron)
• ROS Humble (branch: humble)
• ROS Foxy (branch: foxy)
• ROS Noetic (branch: noetic)

Supported Robots

Model	Support
Create 1	Yes
Create 2 (firmware >= 3.2.6)	Yes
Roomba Original Series	No
Roomba 400 Series	Yes
Roomba 500 Series	Yes *
Roomba 600 Series	Yes *
Roomba 700 Series	Yes +
Roomba 800 Series	Yes +
Roomba 900 Series	No *

+ Verified by third-party. Please note Odometry Issue #28 * Not verified. Anyone who is able to verify that this driver works or not is encouraged to contact Jacob with their findings or open an issue.

Features

Feature	Status
Odometry	Available
Safe mode	Planned #13
Clean demo	Planned #14
Dock demo	Available
Drive wheels	N/A
Drive (v,w)	Available
Brush motors	Available
LEDs	Available
Digit LEDs	Available
Sound	Available
Wheeldrop	Available
Bumpers	Available
Cliff sensor	Available
Dirt detect	N/A
Omni IR sensor	Available
Left IR sensor	N/A
Right IR sensor	N/A
Battery info	Available
Light sensors	Available
Diagnostics
Corrupt packets	Available
Overcurrent info	N/A

Install

Prerequisites

• Internet connection
• ROS 2
• Ubuntu packages: python3-rosdep, python3-colcon-common-extensions

$ sudo apt install python3-rosdep python3-colcon-common-extensions

Compiling

1. Create a colcon workspace

   $ cd ~
   $ mkdir -p create_ws/src
   $ cd create_ws

2. Clone this repo

   $ cd ~/create_ws/src
   $ git clone https://github.com/autonomylab/create_robot.git
   $ git clone https://github.com/AutonomyLab/libcreate.git

3. Install dependencies

   $ cd ~/create_ws
   $ rosdep update
   $ rosdep install --from-paths src -i

4. Build

   $ cd ~/create_ws
   $ colcon build

USB Permissions

5. In order to connect to Create over USB, ensure your user is in the dialout group

   $ sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

6. Logout and login for permission to take effect

Running the driver

Setup

1. After compiling from source, don't forget to source your workspace:

   $ source ~/create_ws/install/setup.bash

2. Connect computer to Create's 7-pin serial port

• If using Create 1, ensure that nothing is connected to Create's DB-25 port

3. Launch one of the existing launch files or adapt them to create your own.

Launch files

For Create 2 (Roomba 600/700 series):

$ ros2 launch create_bringup create_2.launch

For Create 1 (Roomba 500 series):

$ ros2 launch create_bringup create_1.launch

For Roomba 400 series:

$ ros2 launch create_bringup roomba_400.launch

Launch file arguments

• config - Absolute path to a configuration file (YAML). Default: create_bringup/config/default.yaml
• desc - Enable robot description (URDF/mesh). Default: true

For example, if you would like to disable the robot description and provide a custom configuration file:

$ ros2 launch create_bringup create_2.launch config:=/abs/path/to/config.yaml desc:=false

Parameters

Name	Description	Default
dev	Device path of robot	/dev/ttyUSB0
base_frame	The robot's base frame ID	base_footprint
odom_frame	The robot's odometry frame ID	odom
latch_cmd_duration	If this many seconds passes without receiving a velocity command the robot stops	0.2
loop_hz	Frequency of internal update loop	10.0
publish_tf	Publish the transform from odom_frame to base_frame	true
robot_model	The type of robot being controlled (supported values: ROOMBA_400, CREATE_1 and CREATE_2)	CREATE_2
baud	Serial baud rate	Inferred based on robot model, but is overwritten upon providing a value
oi_mode_workaround	Some Roomba models incorrectly report the current OI mode in their sensor streams. Setting this to true will cause libcreate to decrement the OI mode received in the sensor stream by 1	false

Publishers

Topic	Description	Type
battery/capacity	The estimated charge capacity of the robot's battery (Ah)	std_msgs/msg/Float32
battery/charge	The current charge of the robot's battery (Ah)	std_msgs/msg/Float32
battery/charge_ratio	Charge / capacity	std_msgs/msg/Float32
battery/charging_state	The chargins state of the battery	create_msgs/msg/ChargingState
battery/current	Current flowing through the robot's battery (A). Positive current implies charging	std_msgs/msg/Float32
battery/temperature	The temperature of the robot's battery (degrees Celsius)	std_msgs/msg/Int16
battery/voltage	Voltage of the robot's battery (V)	std_msgs/msg/Float32
bumper	Bumper state message (including light sensors on bumpers)	create_msgs/msg/Bumper
cliff	Cliff state message	create_msgs/msg/Cliff
clean_button	'clean' button is pressed ('play' button for Create 1)	std_msgs/msg/Empty
day_button	'day' button is pressed	std_msgs/msg/Empty
hour_button	'hour' button is pressed	std_msgs/msg/Empty
minute_button	'minute' button is pressed	std_msgs/msg/Empty
dock_button	'dock' button is pressed ('advance' button for Create 1)	std_msgs/msg/Empty
spot_button	'spot' button is pressed	std_msgs/msg/Empty
ir_omni	The IR character currently being read by the omnidirectional receiver. Value 0 means no character is being received	std_msgs/msg/UInt16
joint_states	The states (position, velocity) of the drive wheel joints	sensor_msgs/msg/JointState
mode	The current mode of the robot (See OI Spec for details)	create_msgs/msg/Mode
odom	Robot odometry according to wheel encoders	nav_msgs/msg/Odometry
wheeldrop	At least one of the drive wheels has dropped	std_msgs/msg/Empty
/tf	The transform from the odom frame to base_footprint. Only if the parameter publish_tf is true	tf2_msgs/msg/TFMessage
diagnostics	Info about the battery charge, wheeldrop/cliff state, robot mode, and serial connection	diagnostic_msgs/msg/DiagnosticArray

Subscribers

Topic	Description	Type
cmd_vel	Drives the robot's wheels according to a forward and angular velocity	geometry_msgs/msg/Twist
debris_led	Enable / disable the blue 'debris' LED	std_msgs/msg/Bool
spot_led	Enable / disable the 'spot' LED	std_msgs/msg/Bool
dock_led	Enable / disable the 'dock' LED	std_msgs/msg/Bool
check_led	Enable / disable the 'check robot` LED	std_msgs/msg/Bool
power_led	Set the 'power' LED color and intensity. Accepts 1 or 2 bytes, the first represents the color between green (0) and red (255) and the second (optional) represents the intensity with brightest setting as default (255)	std_msgs/msg/UInt8MultiArray
set_ascii	Sets the 4 digit LEDs. Accepts 1 to 4 bytes, each representing an ASCII character to be displayed from left to right	std_msgs/msg/UInt8MultiArray
dock	Activates the demo docking behaviour. Robot enters Passive mode meaning the user loses control (See OI Spec)	std_msgs/msg/Empty
undock	Switches robot to Full mode giving control back to the user	std_msgs/msg/Empty
define_song	Define a song with up to 16 notes. Each note is described by a MIDI note number and a float32 duration in seconds. The longest duration is 255/64 seconds. You can define up to 4 songs (See OI Spec)	create_msgs/msg/DefineSong
play_song	Play a predefined song	create_msgs/msg/PlaySong

Commanding your Create

You can move the robot around by sending geometry_msgs/msg/Twist messages to the topic cmd_vel:

linear.x  (+)     Move forward (m/s)
          (-)     Move backward (m/s)
angular.z (+)     Rotate counter-clockwise (rad/s)
          (-)     Rotate clockwise (rad/s)

Velocity limits

-0.5 <= linear.x <= 0.5 and -4.25 <= angular.z <= 4.25

Teleoperation

create_bringup comes with a launch file for teleoperating Create with a joystick.

$ ros2 launch create_bringup joy_teleop.launch joy_config:=xbox360

There exists configuration files for the Xbox 360 wired controller and the Logitech F710 controller. You can adapt these files for your preferred joystick configuration.

Contributions

Contributing to the development and maintenance of create_autonomy is encouraged. Feel free to open issues or create pull requests on GitHub.

Contributors

• Michael Browne
  • Confirms driver works with Roomba 700 and 800 series.
• Clyde McQueen
  • Added support for sound (#37).
• Ben Wolsieffer
  • Added JointState publisher for wheels (#26).
  • Added Create 1 description (#27).
• Pedro Grojsgold
  • Ported to ROS 2 (commit).
• Josh Gadeken
  • Added parameter for libcreate's OI Mode reporting workaround (#95)