Gazebo Plugin for NAO Simulator SDK

[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

Hello everyone,

Lately I've been working on developing a Gazebo/ROS Plugin in order to simulate NAO via its C++ Simulator SDK, like Webots! The results are rather satisfying! 

In more detail:

• Camera, Sonar, IMU and FSR sensors have been integrated and are ready to use!
• Supports all versions and body types of NAO (supported by Simulator SDK)
  
• Written purely in C++
• Standalone ROS package
• Could be used for simulating Pepper and other aldebaran robots (it would require modifications in the code, but the logic remains the same).

Here's a short video of how to use this plugin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCxDxJ5u6KU

Limitations/Notes:

• Cameras, IMU, sonars and FSRs integration is completed, but in beta/testing stage.
• Fingers/Hand joints are not simulated yet.. (Easy task - will do in the next few days)
• Integration for LED, IR, Bumper, Tactile and Audio hardware is not available and is not on my agenda. So, feel free to contribute in that direction.
• I have tested the plugin for V40 and V50 robot models! Using it with older versions should work, but isn't tested!
• NAO cannot walk!! NAOqi produces the following error: 

[ERROR] ALMotion.ALWalkComMPC :xCreateCopConstraintInFootStep:0 ERROR in compute of CopConstraint

[WARN ] ALMotion.alwalktorsoheight :xComputeDesiredTorsoHeight:0 Left Leg max leg length: compute torso height failed.

[WARN ] motion.almotion :computePreview:0 compute torso height. Error QP.

[WARN ] ALMotion.ALBalancerWalk :xSetWalkAngles:0 Cartesian motion is infeasible for one leg. cycleNumber: 1493

Please check the repo, https://github.com/costashatz/nao_gazebo , comment, test. More specifically, contribute in finding why NAOqi produces that error. If the walking is complete, we will have made a huge step in simulating NAO in Gazebo properly.

Best,

Konstantinos

[justin...@gmail.com]

Hi,

Thanks for all this work, it's nice to see Nao in gazebo!
The naoqi error came as a consequence of uninitialized values.
Initializing actuator values seems to fix the issue, I've made a pull request with that correction.
Best regards,

Justine

[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

Hello,

I should thank you! Excellent!

I have seen the PR! I will merge it as soon as I am in my computer!

Now PID tuning should be the next move!

Best,

Konstantinos

[Maciej Żurad]

Hello,

It's awesome to see some NAO Simulation plugins,

Have you thought about doing the same for V-REP?, it's also a really nice robotics simulator and doesn't require a workstation like Gazebo to run it.

Best,

Maciej

[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

Hello,

It is a nice idea.. I had tried in the past to make a simple ROS VRep plugin for NAO based on the already simulated NAO in VRep but Vrep handles things so differently than ROS that it is not that straight forward..

I will look at it when I have time, but I can't guarantee anything in a short time period.. Our main priority now is to improve PID gains and stabilize Gazebo simulation..

Best,
Konstantinos

[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

Thanks to you now NAO walks..

Here's a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPg7caI26Z4

PID gains need a lot of tuning..Also, friction coefficients need checking..

On Monday, March 16, 2015 at 1:02:57 PM UTC+2, justin...@gmail.com wrote:

[lior israelov]

hello

I'm really new with nao and gazebo.

I trying to learn about ros and robots programing .

I have a big project during my BA to simulate a nao robot with some features.

the aldebaran simulator (webots) is very expensive.

i have many questions that i can't get answer from the web clearly.

Can is ask some questions here ?

tank you 

lior

בתאריך יום שישי, 6 במרץ 2015 בשעה 05:46:28 UTC+3, מאת Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis:

[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

Of course you can.

I will gladly answer as many as I can.

[ליאור ישראלוב‎]

tank you very much !

1.where can i find ros basic information ?

2. i was trying to setup ros-nao-(some simulator) on windows - is it possible \ recommended ? (i'm not so familiar with linux but if it nursery i will switch).

3. i looking for a place to simulate the nao robot with real physics world, does gazebo support it? 

4. i tried to download the naoqi-sdk but because i don't have a real robot it not possible, can i handle without it ? ( i just want to simulate )

i'm sorry that my english is not so well

lior

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[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

See answers below.

On Sunday, October 25, 2015 at 6:53:23 PM UTC+1, lior israelov wrote:

tank you very much !

1.where can i find ros basic information ?

I believe that you will find almost everything about ROS in: http://wiki.ros.org/ 

2. i was trying to setup ros-nao-(some simulator) on windows - is it possible \ recommended ? (i'm not so familiar with linux but if it nursery i will switch).

It should be possible (I am not really sure), but it is highly NOT recommended. Switch to Linux to make your life easier.

 

3. i looking for a place to simulate the nao robot with real physics world, does gazebo support it? 

Gazebo supports a very wide range of real physics world properties. What do you want to do?

 

4. i tried to download the naoqi-sdk but because i don't have a real robot it not possible, can i handle without it ? ( i just want to simulate )

You can use pure Gazebo simulator with ROS control (no NAOqi API).

I, also, want to note here that the Gazebo (either with ROS control only or via NaoQi SDK) simulation is not stable enough (PID values need tuninng) and thus Webots is suggested by my side. You could always try to fix the PID values (via an evolutionary algorithm would be perfect).

Best,

Konstantinos

[ליאור ישראלוב‎]

i want to build an environment to simulate robot stability with different criterias (zmp, FRI, CoM) and test them with different movements.

can i get some cheap license for web (for student) ?

can you suggest  good Workspace like visual studio for linux ?

lior

‫בתאריך יום א׳, 25 באוק׳ 2015 ב-21:01 מאת ‪Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis‬‏ <‪costa...@gmail.com‬‏>:‬

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ros-sig-aldebaran/b78ffa30-0d00-41cd-9818-33157fbecc02%40googlegroups.com.

[Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis]

On Sunday, October 25, 2015 at 7:14:11 PM UTC+1, lior israelov wrote:

i want to build an environment to simulate robot stability with different criterias (zmp, FRI, CoM) and test them with different movements.

This can be done with Gazebo, but the issues with the PID values should be fixed first. This can also be done with Webots.

 

can i get some cheap license for web (for student) ?

Check Webots' website. I think you can get one month trial with your Aldebaran account (need to have the actual robot).

 

can you suggest  good Workspace like visual studio for linux ?

https://www.reddit.com/r/cpp/comments/2w0dh6/what_c_ide_for_linux/

I personally do not use any. I use Sublime and command line. When I have big projects (that I am not really aware of), I use KDevelop or QtCreator to get the auto-completion feature.

Best,

Konstantinos

[ליאור ישראלוב‎]

i will read about the PID and try to handle with it

this is for now , i will start to study try to handle it.

tank you very much  !

‫בתאריך יום א׳, 25 באוק׳ 2015 ב-21:37 מאת ‪Konstantinos Chatzilygeroudis‬‏ <‪costa...@gmail.com‬‏>:‬

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ros-sig-aldebaran/391a0698-189a-4b77-89d4-7158d8cefac6%40googlegroups.com.