dev notes
Guide: Video Tutorials on Microcontrollers and ROS on WSL
The following video tutorials are available on YouTube:
dev notes
Towards Easier ROS Setup & Collaboration – VSCode, Docker, and WSL2
Visual Studio Code is a very powerful tool. Over the past year, our team has utilized the LiveShare plugin to collaborate virtually. It’s like Google Docs for code. Combined with screen sharing, we were able to make a lot of progress together on the same project. But that’s not all. I’ve already written about using Docker with WSL2 (though that post is due for an update, but probably after Windows 21H2 releases). While the graphical Read more…
dev notes
Summer Recap – The Remote Edition!
So, this summer, we were unable to finish the hardware our team had spent so much time designing last fall and early this spring. But nonetheless, there was a lot of progress made after the last recap, so here’s some pictures. Daniel and Eric F. made a lot of progress fabricating the new boat’s pontoons. With Tyler, they CNC’d pink XPS foam into the fundamental layers that define the shape of the pontoons. Had the Read more…
dev notes
Running ROS with GUI in Docker using Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2)
With Virtual RobotX utilizing Docker, it seems like a good time to investigate how Docker can be utilized in improving onboarding. Windows is a very popular OS, and Linux dual booting can be a barrier to entry. Over several days, I researched how to get ROS and Gazebo functional on Docker on a Windows machine thanks to the magic of WSL2. I heavily relied on this tutorial by Jack Kawell. It is a great primary Read more…
recap
November Lake Day
Today, GTMR went out to the lake! Robert, Matt, Eric, Daniel, Ali, and I were there. Game day made transportation logistics a little bit difficult, but we all made it in the end. The GPS was confirmed to be working, and Robert successfully ran Rahul’s dynamic model data collection program after (literally) tossing his phone onto the boat (known as Vinny) to get an internet connection to it. His dedication knows no bounds. The boat Read more…
dev notes
RoboBoat 2019 Drone Retrospective
The Frankendrone from RoboBoat 2019 had a rough start and was not able to fly in competition. Eric was able to finally get it steady in the air before the end of the week of competition. Hardware must work before software can work properly. Takeaways: Software ArduPilot and PX4 flight stacks both have useful features Ardupilot is simpler to set up and has better stability, compatible with most voltage step-down modules PX4 is more difficult Read more…