ROS Programming: Building Powerful Robots

Design, build and simulate complex robots using the Robot Operating System

Nonfiction, Computers, Computer Hardware, Input-Output Equipment, Operating Systems

• Author: Anil Mahtani, Luis Sanchez, Enrique Fernandez, Aaron Martinez, Lentin Joseph
• ISBN: 9781788623650
• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Publication: March 13, 2018
• Imprint: Packt Publishing
• Language: English

Enhancing your existing robotic skills by learning how to design and build multifunctional robots using Robots Operating System libraries and tools

About This Book

• Successfully design and simulate your 3D robot model and use powerful algorithms and tools to program and set up your robots
• Work through concrete examples that will help you build your own robotic systems of varying complexity levels
• Discover the best practices and troubleshooting solutions everyone needs when working on ROS

Who This Book Is For

This course targets robotic enthusiasts, developers, and researchers who would like to build robot applications using ROS. If you are looking to explore the advanced ROS features in your projects, then this learning path is for you. Basic knowledge of ROS, GNU/Linux, and programming concepts is assumed.

What You Will Learn

• Understand the concepts of ROS, the command-line tools, visualization GUIs, and how to debug ROS
• Connect robot sensors and actuators to ROS
• Obtain and analyze data from cameras and 3D sensors
• Dig deep into the ROS Pluginlib, ROS nodelets, and Gazebo plugins
• Interface I/O boards such as Arduino, robot sensors, and high-end actuators with ROS
• Get to grips with teleoperating robots using hand gestures
• Build ROS-based applications using Matlab and Android
• Build interactive applications using TurtleBot

In Detail

This learning path is designed to help you program and build your robots using open source ROS libraries and tools. We start with the installation and basic concepts, then continue with the more complex modules available in ROS, such as sensor and actuator integration (drivers), navigation and mapping (so you can create an autonomous mobile robot), manipulation, computer vision, perception in 3D with PCL, and more.

We then discuss advanced concepts in robotics and how to program using ROS.

You'll get a deep overview of the ROS framework, which will give you a clear idea of how ROS really works. During the course of the book, you will learn how to build models of complex robots, and simulate and interface the robot using the ROS MoveIt motion planning library and ROS navigation stacks.

We'll go through great projects such as building a self-driving car, an autonomous mobile robot, and image recognition using deep learning and ROS. You can find beginner, intermediate, and expert ROS robotics applications inside!

It includes content from the following Packt products:

• Effective Robotics Programming with ROS - Third Edition
• Mastering ROS for Robotics Programming
• ROS Robotics Projects

Style and approach

This course is packed with fun-filled, end-to-end projects on mobile, armed, and flying robots, and describes the ROS implementation and execution of these models.