Installation and use

ROS noetic

Behavior Metrics with ROS Noetic can be installed as usual in the machine or using Docker. Since ROS Noetic needs Ubuntu 20 and the dependencies are quite new, that workflow is also provided.

Table of Contents

  1. Ordinary Installation
    1. Requirements
    2. Installing ROS Noetic
    3. Installing Jderobot’s dependencies
    4. Installing Behavior Metrics
    5. Installing CARLA simulator and support
    6. (Optional) Installing for Drone
  2. Installation using Docker
    1. Starting Docker Container
      1. VNC container viewer
      2. Terminal in container
      3. Stopping container
      4. Resuming container
    2. Building the container

Installation

Requirements

  • Ubuntu 20.04

Installing ROS Noetic

A detailed ROS Noetic installation guide can be found in the ROS Wiki

Setup your sources

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'

Set up your keys

sudo apt install curl
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add -

Installing ROS Noetic

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-noetic-desktop-full

Environment setup

echo "source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Dependencies for building packages

sudo apt install python3-rosdep python3-rosinstall python3-rosinstall-generator python3-wstool build-essential

Creating a virtualenv

It is recommended to use virtual environment for Behavior Metrics. Use Python version->3.8 or below.

# Create virtualenv
virtualenv -p python=3.8 .behavior-metrics
source .behavior-metrics/bin/activate
pip3 install empy
sudo apt-get install python3-dev

Install Catkin_pkg

pip3 install catkin_pkg

Installing dependencies

JdeRobot’s CustomRobots

The CustomRobots repository is only needed for launching Behavior Metrics with Gazebo. Since our main simulator is CARLA we don’t need it for running behavior-metrics with CARLA based simulation.

  • Clone this repository in your home directory.
    git clone -b noetic-devel https://github.com/JdeRobot/CustomRobots
    cd CustomRobots/CustomRobots/f1 && mkdir build && cd build
    /bin/bash -c "source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash;
    cmake .. && make && sudo make install;"
    echo "source /opt/jderobot/share/jderobot/gazebo/assets-setup.sh" >> ~/.bashrc
    

ROS additional package

git clone https://github.com/strasdat/Sophus
cd Sophus && mkdir build && cd build
cmake ../ && make && sudo make install

Installing Behavior Metrics

This application depends on some third party libraries, most of them are included in the requirements file. To install them just type the following:

  • Clone this repository in your home directory.
git clone -b noetic-devel https://github.com/JdeRobot/BehaviorMetrics
cd BehaviorMetrics
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

If you are going to use the GUI you need to create the resources file for the application.

pyrcc5 -o behavior_metrics/ui/gui/resources/resources.py \
	behavior_metrics/ui/gui/resources/resources.qrc

Installing CARLA simulator and support

For installing CARLA and supporting this new simulator:

  1. Install CARLA 0.9.15 . Currently, the official Carla server is down. Therefore, it is advisable to install Carla using the GitHub package method instead of the Debian package method.

For manual Installation of CARLA follow the below instructions:-

i) Install Required System Dependency

Before downloading CARLA, install the necessary system dependency:

sudo apt-get -y install libomp5

ii) Download the CARLA 0.9.15 Release

Download the CARLA_0.9.15.tar.gz file (approximately 16GB) from the official release:

wget https://carla-releases.s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com/Linux/CARLA_0.9.15.tar.gz

iii) Unpack CARLA to the Desired Directory

Unpack the downloaded file to /opt/carla-simulator/:

tar -xzvf CARLA_0.9.15.tar.gz -C /opt/carla-simulator/

iv) Install the CARLA Python Module

Finally, install the CARLA Python module and necessary dependencies:

python -m pip install carla==0.9.15
python -m pip install -r /opt/carla-simulator/PythonAPI/examples/requirements.txt
  1. Install CARLA ROS Bridge
  2. Install this fork of the CARLA bird-eye-view
     cd /PATH/TO/BEHAVIOR/METRICS/BehaviorMetrics/behavior_metrics
     git clone https://github.com/Qi-Zha0/carla-birdeye-view
    
  3. Add variables to PYTHONPATH following the simulator installation instructions and ROS bridge installation instructions. Alternatively, you may install the Package via pip.
     source ~/carla-ros-bridge/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash
    
     # First option
     export CARLA_ROOT=<PATH-TO-CARLA>/carla/
     export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:$CARLA_ROOT/PythonAPI/carla
     export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:$CARLA_ROOT/PythonAPI/carla/dist/carla-0.9.15-py3.7-linux-x86_64.egg   
     # Second option
     pip install carla
    
     export OBJECT_PATH=<PATH-TO-BEHAVIOR-METRICS>/behavior_metrics/configs/CARLA/CARLA_launch_files/CARLA_object_files/parked_car_objects.json
    

    Note: $OBJECT_PATH is a sample CARLA objects json file containing objects to be spawned in the CARLA simulator. You can use your own json file by setting $OBJECT_PATH. More details about this are added in Quick Start guide

  4. Test that everything is correctly set up running the example configuration file:
      python3 driver_carla.py -c configs/CARLA/default_carla.yml -g
    

(Optional) Installing for Drone

For installing and launching drone:

  1. Install JDE-drone. do source install, inside your ROS workspace.
    git clone https://github.com/JdeRobot/drones.git -b noetic-devel
    cd ~/catkin_ws/src && ln -s drones/drone_wrapper .
    cd ~/catkin_ws/src && ln -s drones/drone_assets .
    cd ~/catkin_ws/src && ln -s drones/rqt_drone_teleop .
    source ~/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash
    cd /drones/drone_circuit_assets && mkdir build && cd build
    cmake .. && make
    sudo make install
    

    Add environment variables

    echo 'export GAZEBO_RESOURCE_PATH=${GAZEBO_RESOURCE_PATH}:/usr/share/gazebo-11' >> ~/.bashrc
    echo 'export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=${GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH}:~/catkin_ws/drones/drone_assets/models' >> ~/.bashrc
    source ~/.bashrc
    
  2. Install PX4

To install PX4 toolchain :

a. Download PX4 source Code

git clone --recursive https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot.git 

b. Run the ubuntu.sh with no arguments (in a bash shell) to install everything:

bash ./PX4-Autopilot/Tools/setup/ubuntu.sh

Acknowledge any prompts as the script progress.

You can use the –no-nuttx and –no-sim-tools options to omit the NuttX and/or simulation tools.

Then restart your computer.

c. Build PX4

cd  ~/PX4-Autopilot
DONT_RUN=1 make px4_sitl gazebo

d. Export Environment variables

echo 'source ~/PX4-Autopilot/Tools/simulation/gazebo-classic/setup_gazebo.bash ~/PX4-Autopilot ~/PX4-Autopilot/build/px4_sitl_default' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export ROS_PACKAGE_PATH=$ROS_PACKAGE_PATH:~/PX4-Autopilot/Tools/simulation/gazebo-classic/sitl_gazebo-classic' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

e. Try launching PX4 simulation (optional)

roslaunch px4 mavros_posix_sitl.launch
pxh> commander arm # when launching finishes
  1. Launch drone inside behaviour metrics
    cd  < path to BehaviorMetrics >
    python3 driver_gazebo.py -c ./configs/gazebo/default-drone.yml -g
    

Installation using Docker

The docker installation guide is very clear and can be found in this link which is well documented.

Download Docker in Ubuntu

First remove older versions.

sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc

Then setup the stable repository

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install \
    apt-transport-https \
    ca-certificates \
    curl \
    gnupg-agent \
    software-properties-common
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository \
   "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
   $(lsb_release -cs) \
   stable"    

Install the docker engine

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Add your user to the docker’s group to avoid using sudo for docker, you have to log out and log in and restart to for this change to take effect.

sudo usermod -aG docker your-user

Test your installation

docker run hello-world

Running Behavior Metrics Containers

Open up a terminal a paste the following command. Creating a volume is recommended so you can add models or datasets easily. To create the volume update local_directory to yur local directory where your datasets and models are located and docker_directory to the directory you want them to be stored inside the container.

For CPU only

docker run -dit --name behavior-metrics-noetic \
	-p 5900:5900 \
	-p 8888:8888 \
        -v [local_directory]:[docker_directory] \
	jderobot/behavior-metrics:noetic

For GPU support (CUDA 10.1 Cudnn 7)

Some extra packages are needed for Ubuntu 16.04/18.04/20.04, more about installation in nvidia-docker docs.

distribution=$(. /etc/os-release;echo $ID$VERSION_ID)
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/gpgkey | sudo apt-key add -
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/$distribution/nvidia-docker.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
sudo systemctl restart docker

The flag --gpus is added along with the correct image that contains cuda drivers.

docker run --gpus all -dit --name behavior-metrics-noetic \
        -p 5900:5900 \
        -p 8888:8888 \
        jderobot/behavior-metrics:noetic-10.1-cudnn7

For GPU support on WSL refer Getting started with CUDA on Ubuntu on WSL 2.

Using VNC to visualize container

To connect to our container RealVNC can be installed to access the GUI through the port 5900.

Once vnc-viewer is open fill in localhost:5900 in the address and then press connect.

You will need to authenticate, the current password is jderobot, although it can be changed in the script vnc_startup.sh.

Using terminal in container

The recommended way to work, is by writing down docker logs container-name and you will get an URL, which will take you to notebook, double click on the last URL to open Jupyter.

docker logs behavior-metrics-noetic

Go to that URL in the browser (outside VNC) and once you are in the notebook you can open up a terminal by clicking in Terminal.

A terminal window will open. Type

bash

and this window will behave as any other Ubuntu terminal, so you are ready to run Behavior Metrics, once the GUI is opened it will be displayed in the VNC window.

cd BehaviorMetrics/behavior_metrics/
python3 driver_gazebo.py -c configs/gazebo/default.yml -g

This command will open the Gazebo Simulation in the VNC window. You can also directly run the previous command inside VNC window in a terminal.

IF THE PREVIOUS COMMAND FAILS try the following and try again:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Stopping container

behavior-metrics-noetic should be replaced with the name of your container.

docker stop behavior-metrics-noetic

Resuming container

behavior-metrics-noetic should be replace with the name of your container, this command is similar to docker run so now you can run docker logs container_name to get a new link for jupyter, and then connect as usual to your VNC viewer.

docker restart behavior-metrics-noetic

Building the latest container

First go to the folder where the Dockerfile is, then use docker use docker built command with the desired name tag.

cd BehaviorMetrics/.docker/noetic/
docker build -t any-tag-you-want .

From here you are to good to go to the Quick Start guide!