Setup Python3 GoPiGo3 and DI_Sensors on Ubuntu Server 20.04 64-bit for non-root access

Default account and password? act: {ubuntu, pi} x pw: {ubuntu, raspberry} none work.

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Sorry, username: pi, password: robots1234

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Ubuntu 20, take 2

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Tried take 2 on Pi3B: Edited network-config as noted in OP, but system did not connect to my WiFi. (Also checked to see if it broadcast GoPiGo3 SSID - not.)

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This image does not broadcast an AP. I have not tried setting up wifi on it (I used an Ethernet cable) but I haven’t touched anything related to setting up wifi.

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I have no idea how to connect to wifi with the Ubuntu command line. So I connected a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Yes there is a small desktop, that will allow you to set settings.
I used that to connect to my local wifi and it worked on the first attempt.

I’m sure it can be done via the command line, but I don’t recall how.

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Thanks. Yes I had success with WiFi once, and frustration several times. I’m going to watch quietly for a while.

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Have you disabled IPv6?

That has caused WiFi problems in the past.

Updated the procedure - 64-BITS - see original post.

WE’RE GO FOR FOXY FITZROY

In case anyone is wondering where I’m going with this - I believe the GoPiGo3 $229 kit, will compare very capably with the $549 Turtlebot Burger, offering a lower cost entry point to learning about ROS.

Not to put the GoPiGo3 running GoPiGo3 OS or Raspbian4Robots down - I believe before anyone even thinks about ROS, they need to use the DI/ModRobotics OS and run every example, learn about every function of the GoPiGo3 platform.

That said, the ROS world is where robotics research plays and where industrial robots earn their reason for existence.

Most folk build their first ROS robot with a LIDAR scanner and use off-board processing. The robot becomes a remote controlled sensor platform. The LIDAR is a bit noisy, and a bit power hungry, and a bit expensive. It does do a great job of mapping the environment, and allows precise localization.

I’m thinking the GoPiGo3 with the servo mounted Distance Sensor running a slow sweep scan sending distance readings to the off-board rviz will be able to create a map, albeit not instantaneously like the LIDAR.

So that’s the thinking - Can GoPiGo3 basic kit or basic with the DI IMU do the job for $300 less?

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I’d love to see this happen.

I maybe should have done that. Nice thing with the Raspberry Pi is that I can always swap SD cards to go back and forth fairly easily (although perhaps not as easily as with @jimrh 's multiboot approach once that’s working).

I’ve realized that right now my ROS setup is actually not using the IMU. I’ve been doing a lot of ROS tutorials just to get to the point where I understand the navigation stack. I’m just about there. Then I can start using my GPG3 more. I’m very much at the point you described - it’s more of a remote sensor platform. But I plan to see what I can do to get the IMU integrated at least.

I’m sure you can run ROS without LIDAR, although it may limit which navigation packages you can use. I’ve written maze navigation programs (in simulated environments) that don’t use the navigation stack. These did use LIDAR readings, but used them just as distance readings from distinct directions (left, left-forward, forward, right-forward, right). That could just as easily be done with distance sensors, or one pivoting distance-sensor. The only issue would be whether you could actually scan fast enough to keep up with how fast you want the robot to go. And all of that could run locally.

/K

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6/5/2021 UPDATE: Added swap file creation and disable unattended updates (after the first one)

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As far as that is concerned, you are correct, though I believe I have the multi-boot process just about completely knocked.

I have learned, and am learning, a lot about how Raspbian is organized and the gnarly details of booting the Pi.  This translates into knowledge of the boot process and how to fold it in ways that can be very interesting and useful.

In a very real way, this is not unlike your experiments with ROS:  You can do 99.99999% of what ROS does using stock Dexter software, but you’re learning a lot about robotics in ways that the folks at MR/DI never even imagined.

Eventually when you decide to try the Dexter software, you will be approaching it from an entirely new and fresh viewpoint that none of the rest of us can match.  You will bring to the analysis of the software and its features a fresh and imaginative point-of view.

In a manner similar to the way @cyclicalobsessive is my standard as a robotics software god, and I will always bet money on my own hardware skills, you will bring a third, valuable, point of view - and I am learning a lot just watching you.

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Only do this if you are the only user of your system!

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Wow - this one was tough. Hopefully that is the last of the problems.

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You had mentioned somewhere the camera not being compatible with the 64 bit system. How did you solve it?
/K

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Well, I am not sure if all the steps I took are required because I didn’t reboot and test before rpi-update-ing the kernel :woozy_face:

This is the process that should be used (includes testing before updating the kernel):

==== SETUP PICAMERA


sudo pip3 install git+https://github.com/waveform80/picamera
sudo apt-get install --reinstall libraspberrypi0 libraspberrypi-dev libraspberrypi-bin
sudo vcgencmd get_camera

Added to /etc/udev/rules.d/99-com.rules:
SUBSYSTEM=="vchiq", GROUP="video", MODE="0660"

added to end of /boot/firmware/config.txt
start_x=1
gpu_mem=128

sudo reboot
sudo vcgencmd get_camera
supported=1 detected=1    ???
raspistill -o test.jpg

==== if not - try latest kernel

sudo curl -L --output /usr/bin/rpi-update https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Hexxeh/rpi-update/master/rpi-update
sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/rpi-update

sudo rpi-update
WARNING: This update bumps to rpi-5.10.y linux tree
See: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=288234
your firmware was successfully updated to 85bda3d8fd6a8b70d189aefd9234440ca99cb81c

sudo reboot
sudo vcgencmd get_camera
supported=1 detected=1    ???
raspistill -o test.jpg

=== [For info only] To restore to stable kernel:
apt search raspberry  (raspberrypi-kernel/stable)
sudo apt --reinstall install raspberrypi-kernel/stable
sudo sync
sudo reboot

=======
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Ouch - just figured out that raspistill works, but picamera still having problems…

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This is a great thead. I notice that there are multiple (I think 5) images on sourceforge with some variant of ubuntuxxx gopigo3 in the title. Can you point me to the best one, for a raspi3+ gopigo3 (around 12 months old?)

I am using “take_2” and it sorta works but sometimes it just crashes (gpu_mem=128 incorrect?) or is super slow, and definitely can’t get the camera to work.

So which one is the best one? Thanks

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@pitosalas This thread is about creating your own “GoPiGo3 over Ubuntu 20.0.4 64-bit” and does not use any of the Modular Robotics SourceForge operating systems.

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Sorry, my mistake. Didn’t mean to cause any confusion!

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