Changing the distance between wheels pioneer p3dx - ROS hydro

[Alex R]

Hi,

I would like to know how do I change the default distance between the wheels for pioneer p3dx. The p3dx we had had was sent for servicing and both wheels are now offset to the original configuration. An additional bearing is introduced to both wheels. This extra wheel space in my opinion will affect the odometry. How do I change the wheel separation value in the urdf? Can anyone throw a light on this issue. It will be really helpful.

Thanks

Alex

[Reed Hedges]

If you have changed the position of the wheels, you can modify the firmware (ARCOS) parameters to get accurate odometry using the ARCOScf tool, mainly RevCount.   You can do some tests e.g. rotate 180 or 360 degrees and make sure that the orientation in the pose is correct, check the rotation speed, etc.  You can use the ARIA “demo” tool or ROS. 

 

With the Pioneer, the robot controller calculates the pose. ARIA, ROSARIA, etc just receive updates on this pose from the controller and publish the pose.  So you need to change the controller firmware parameter as well as software model.

 

You can then change the positions of the left and right wheel joints in the URDF as well if you want that to agree with your robot.

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http://www.ros.org/wiki/sig/robots/Pioneer