Next Meetup (Sat June 28th) What to people want to talk about?

[Gav]

Hi All,

Ok, so I'm now back from HK/China/Japan and abuzz with ideas, pics and glossy brochures of various robots. I've also got a few new toys to show off :-)

Here's some ideas:

• The new low-cost RP_lidar laser sensor. Demo it so people can see if it's suitable for their robot. 
• New ROS packages that have come out. Frontier exploration and a new 2D simulator are cool. There's also a visual odometery package that's come out I want to play with. 
• Present a 'roadmap' of ROS packages that are useful for making your own robots. 
• Inertial Measurement Units -- I got loaned a professional IMU that behaves really nicely. If people want to compare sensor behavior this is a good chance. 
• Robot arms -- I had a chat with Dave Coleman, and he kindly got the CLAM arm stack upgraded to the latest version of ROS. I've been meaning to finish off assembly and testing of my one. 

What else would people like to talk about? 

I should also stress that newcomers to ROS are welcome. If you'd like to get into it, come along and kick the tyres! Also, if you have a friend that wants to know how to get started, bring them along!

Cheers,

Gavin 

[Mark Jelic]

Hi Gav,

Not sure if the Syd ROS group has done this before, and maybe it's too soon to ask for it to be some this next meetup, but I personally have a LOT of interest in robotics (as you know) but my understanding of the ROS is minimal at best.

So, was wondering if you (or anyone) has done a "demo" and introductory-level explanation of what it is that ROS is, can do, it's benefits, it's traps, where it's heading, how to start, what hardware you need and generally a presentation (with moving parts!) to hook all is budding roboteers into the ROS community.

Thoughts?

Mark

[Mark Jelic]

And while I'm at it, could the ROS be installed and be working well on something like this:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-NUC-DN2820FYKH-Barebone-Kit-Celeron-CPU-HDMI-WIFI-MINI-USB-/261440706863?pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item3cdf14992f&_uhb=1

[Adrian Apps]

Hi Mark,

Sorry about not replying sooner. I've been filling in for my boss while he is on leave and have been flat out (no time for Google Groups).

Anyway, what you are asking regarding a demo is pretty much part of what was covered in the first workshop. Gav demo'd his turtlebot and showed us some SLAM mapping etc then told us how to do it. It was a great workshop!

There's no reason this couldn't potentially be done again as part of another workshop (Maybe a fresh install of Indigo on Trusy Tahr?) but I suppose it all depends on how much other content Gav has to show us from his recent travels.

As for the Intel NUC, that's precisely the unit I'm using for my turtlebot now. I put 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD in it. I just have to make up a 12V plug for it to fit into my Kobuki base to make it portable. Compiling things seems to take a while on it but once everythings running it seems to have enough guts to do everything. A lot of ROS installations are running on little netbooks, so don't think there's a performance issue there.

Gav,

I definitely think all the topics you have on there so far are perfect. Perhaps mix in a little of the above demo and we'll have a full day of robotic fun!