Full installation instructions

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Installation instruction on the raspberry

Install raspberry pi version of Linux on a micro-SD, instructions can be found here:

Install on raspberry first section (prerequisites).

Opencv 3.4

To find installed version of opencv try

pkg-config --modversion opencv

Install opencv version 3.4 (as of Jan 2020 it is version 3.4.9)

cd
mkdir -p git
cd git
# this method will install version 4.2 - that is not fully compatible (jan 2020)
# git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv.git
# git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv_contrib.git
# use this to get a version compatible with opencv 3.4
# get source (jan 2020)
wget -O opencv-3.4.zip https://github.com/Itseez/opencv/archive/3.4.zip
unzip opencv-3.4.zip
wget -O opencv_contrib-3.4.zip https://github.com/Itseez/opencv_contrib/archive/3.4.zip
unzip opencv_contrib-3.4.zip
# compile the lot, but ommit python3 support, as the compile will fail (as of jan 2020)
cd opencv
mkdir build
cd build
# create makefiles, also for all modules in the opencv_contrib (e.g. ArUco code detect)
# cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE -D BUILD_opencv_python3=OFF -D OPENCV_EXTRA_MODULES_PATH=~/git/opencv_contrib/modules ..
cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE -D BUILD_opencv_python3=OFF -D OPENCV_EXTRA_MODULES_PATH=~/git/opencv_contrib-3.4/modules ..
# inspect printout to see if needed features are enabled
# use -j2 option not to overload or overheat the processor (j2 means use 2 cores only)
# this probably takes more than an hour.
# if the compilation crashes about halfway or so, it is probably due to lack of memory
#    then just start the compile again, and it is likely to continue (at least for a while)
make -j2
# install into /usr/local
sudo make install
# load environment settings
sudo ldconfig

Raspicam

A rather short raspberry pi camera API is available from https://www.uco.es/investiga/grupos/ava/node/40. And can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/raspicam/files/,

or get the file from sourceforge with no GUI, with:

wget --no-check-certificate -O raspicam-0.1.8.zip https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/raspicam/raspicam-0.1.8.zip?r=https%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Fraspicam%2F%3Fsource%3Dtyp_redirect&ts=1486483484&use_mirror=netix

or part of mission files on SVN (version 0.1.6)

Once fetched and available on the raspberry, then

Unpack and install:

unzip raspicam-0.1.8.zip
cd raspicam-0.1.8
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

The library is installed in /usr/local, and therefore to make cmake find it the path needs to be added to startup configuration, in file ~/.bashrc

nano ~/.bashrc
add at the end:
export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/usr/local/lib

(needs a re-logon to be activated, or repeat on the command line)

DNSMASQ

To enable the ROBOBOT to be connected directly to a PC, then it is easier if the ROBOBOT provides an IP for the PC.

Install DNSMASQ

sudo apt install dnsmasq

allow dnsmasq to provide IP to pear-to-pear networks Edit the /etc/dnsmasq.conf (nano is a small text editor, fine for editing configuration files owned by Linux root)

sudo nano /etc/dnsmasq.conf
find and change/add the following line (a bit down, eg to serch use: ctrl-W dhcp-range)
dhcp-range=192.168.17.100,192.168.17.150,12h

To work, the eth0 must have an IP, if noone provides one, change /etc/dhcpcd.conf (dhcp client deamon) to have a default IP, if no DHCP server is available

Edit of /etc/dhcpcd.conf to have a fall back behaviour for eth0 and eth1.

sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf
Add the following lines at the end (uncomment and modify):
# define static profile
profile static_eth0
static ip_address=192.168.17.1/24
# static routers=192.168.0.1
# static domain_name_servers=192.168.0.1

# fallback to static profile on eth0
interface eth0
fallback static_eth0 

This will also give a default IP for an eventual second network (usb-to-cable) if needed

Now, after a reboot, you should be able to connect a PC directly with at network cable to a PC, and the PC should get an IP from the raspberry, so now

ssh local@192.168.17.1

Sound

festival

Easy understandable voice, but takes time to generate and require two intermediate files

sudo apt install festival
echo "The brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" > aaa.txt
text2wave aaa.txt -o aaa.wav
omxplayer aaa.wav

flite

Maybe flite is better - not tested.

sudo apt install flite

espeak

NB! espeak speach do not work - and I fail to sort out why

To use the sound system install

sudo apt install espeak
sudo apt-get install sox libsox-fmt-all

The first speaks english using a command like

espeak -s120 -ven+f3 -a30 "This robot speaks English with a female voice and amplitude 30, at speed 120."

Code for other languages can be found at http://espeak.sourceforge.net/languages.html

Music files

This part works

Play sound files, like

play -v0.1 music.mp3

This line plays an mp3 file with volume reduced by a factor 0.1. The at startup the blue button on the gamepad plays the file in /home/local/Music/music.mp3.
This is a symbolic link to some real music (Radetzky Marsch in this case):

ls ~/Music
   radetzky-marsch_Schloss-Schoenbrunn-Konzerte_Wien_full-length.mp3
cd ~/Music
ln -s radetzky-marsch_Schloss-Schoenbrunn-Konzerte_Wien_full-length.mp3 music.mp3

Jack server

Espeak has problems - fixit!

Installed:

sudo apt install jackd1 alsa-tools

insert in ~/.bashrc - to allow jackd to run without display

export PA_ALSA_PLUGHW=1

start jackd with

jackd --no-realtime -d alsa

jackd starts OK, but espeak still fails

local@hannah:~/robobot_bridge/build $ espeak "hellow"
Expression 'alsa_snd_pcm_hw_params_set_period_size_near( pcm, hwParams, &alsaPeriodFrames, &dir )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c', line: 924
Expression 'alsa_snd_pcm_hw_params_set_period_size_near( pcm, hwParams, &alsaPeriodFrames, &dir )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c',  line: 924
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.front
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.rear
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.center_lfe
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.side
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround21
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround21
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround40
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround41
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround50
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround51
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.surround71
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.iec958
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.iec958
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.iec958
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.hdmi
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.hdmi
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.modem
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.modem
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.phoneline
ALSA lib pcm.c:2565:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM cards.pcm.phoneline
ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1108:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1822:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card
Expression 'alsa_snd_pcm_hw_params_set_period_size_near( pcm, hwParams, &alsaPeriodFrames, &dir )' failed in 'src/hostapi/alsa/pa_linux_alsa.c',  line: 924
wave_open_sound > Pa_OpenStream : err=-9997 (Invalid sample rate)
wave_open_sound > Pa_OpenStream : err=-9997 (Invalid sample rate)
wave_open_sound > Pa_OpenStream : err=-9997 (Invalid sample rate)
wave_open_sound > Pa_OpenStream : err=-9997 (Invalid sample rate)

Sound level

On a Raspberry pi version 3+ (not tested on other versions)

$ amixer
 Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
   Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined
   Playback channels: Mono
   Limits: Playback -10239 - 400
   Mono: Playback 400 [100%] [4.00dB] [on]

An thus:
Setting the sound level can be done by:

amixer set PCM 0dB unmute

Setting to maximum (100%) is about the same as setting 4dB (may be too much for amplifier).

amixer set PCM 100% unmute

Regbot GUI

To run the regbot gui on the raspberry the following package is needed

Additional python packages used

• python-pyqtgraph
• python-qt4-gl
• python-serial
• python-scipy

sudo apt install python-pyqtgraph python-qt4-gl python-serial python-scipy

* no python-pyqtgraph

On my 14.04 32 bit ubuntu the python-pyqtgraph package was not found using apt-get, so I

downloaded from http://www.pyqtgraph.org/ the debian package python-pyqtgraph_0.9.10-1_all.deb and installed using:

sudo dpkg -i python-pyqtgraph_0.9.10-1_all.deb

sudo apt install python-pyqtgraph 

To start the GUI

cd ~/regbot/qtgui
python regbot.py

Connect to network localhost or kill the bridge and connect directly to "/dev/ttyACM0" (not com5 as is the default serial connection).

File sharing for development

Mirror the local disk on the Raspberry to a PC, make all file editing here, and then on a terminal connection to the robot to compile the software.

Share files from windows

On the windows computer install "winscp" and use it to copy files to and from the raspberry disk as needed.

There are other methods too.

Share files on Linux

On a Linux PC use sshfs for sharing. Make an empty directory for the mapped disk, and then mount

mkdir robobotdisk
sshfs local@192.168.0.2: robobotdisk

Unmount with

fusermount -u robobotdisk

Or use "sudo unmount robobotdisk"