From 0 to Working Car

In this step by step tutorial I will inlustrate you how to setup all our working environment.

Hardware List

• Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit
• SD card > 6 GB

Download Card Image

1. Go to the official NVIDIA download page
2. Click On Jetson
3. Inside Filter... search for: Jetson Xavier NX Developer Kit SD Card Image
4. Download the last version

Flash the Image on the SD

1. Completely format the sd card. Remove any previuosly present partition.
2. From the official Balena Etcher website download it.
3. Run Balena Etcher on Linux:
   • Unzip the downloaded file
   • Go inside: balenaEtcher-linux-x64-*.**.**/balenaEtcher-linux-x64
   • Double click on balena-etcher runnable
4. Select the previuosly downloaded image and the wanted SD card and run it

Let's run the Jetson

1. Attach to the jetson:
   • Monitor
   • Keyboard
   • Mouse

2. Insert the SD card inside the Jetson. 3. Power on the Jetson with a [9; 20] V input. A green led will turn on. 4. The jetson should automatically select SD as boot device, if not you can force it with F11 while starting. Anyway if not probably something wrong while flashing the SD. After the first boot you will end up with:

Let's Set-Up The Jetson

1. Accept all the licenses
2. Put English as first Language
3. Italian as keyboard layout
4. Rome as time zone
5. Add a user:
   • username: ubm
   • computer_name: ubm-<name_of_the_car>
   • password: The usual one
   • Automatic Log in setted On

6. The Jetson is ready:

Let's format the SSD

1. Search for Disk App.
2. Select the 500GB SSD and from th top right corner three dots select format.
3. Format it leaving averything as default.

Let's move the root to the SSD

1. Open a Terminal
2. cd ~/Downloads
3. git clone https://github.com/jetsonhacks/rootOnNVMe.git
4. cd rootOnNVMe
5. ./copy-rootfs-ssd.sh
6. ./setup-service.sh
7. sudo reboot now

Let's Update all the Packages

1. Open a Terminal
2. sudo apt update
3. sudo apt upgrade
4. sudo reboot now

Let's create a Swapfile

1. sudo fallocate -l 4G /var/swapfile
2. sudo chmod 600 /var/swapfile
3. sudo mkswap /var/swapfile
4. sudo swapon /var/swapfile
5. sudo bash -c 'echo "/var/swapfile swap swap defaults 0 0" >> /etc/fstab'

Let's Install some Basic Software

1. sudo apt install nano python3.8-full python3-pip tree
2. sudo pip3 install -U jetson-stats
3. sudo reboot now
4. Now if you run jtop:

Let's add udev rules

1. sudo -s
2. echo 'KERNEL=="ttyACM[0-9]*", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{idVendor}=="15d1", MODE="0666", GROUP="dialout", SYMLINK+="sensors/hokuyo"' >> /etc/udev/rules.d/99-hokuyo.rules
3. echo 'KERNEL=="ttyACM[0-9]*", ACTION=="add", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5740", MODE="0666", GROUP="dialout", SYMLINK+="sensors/vesc"' >> /etc/udev/rules.d/99-vesc.rules
4. sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
5. sudo udevadm trigger
6. sudo reboot now
7. Check that inside /dev/sensors there is vesc

Let's Install ROS2 foxy

1. sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
2. sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
3. export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
4. sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y
5. sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg
6. echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $UBUNTU_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null
7. sudo apt update
8. sudo apt upgrade
9. sudo apt install ros-foxy-desktop python3-argcomplete
10. sudo apt install ros-dev-tools Let's try if ros2 is working:
11. source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.bash
12. ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker Expected Output:

    ubm@ubm-bilbo:~$ ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker
    [INFO] [1732365939.572103752] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 1'
    [INFO] [1732365940.571954330] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 2'
    [INFO] [1732365941.571874272] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 3'
    [INFO] [1732365942.571906233] [talker]: Publishing: 'Hello World: 4'
    

13. sudo apt install python3-colcon-common-extensions
14. sudo apt install python3-bloom python3-rosdep fakeroot debhelper dh-python
15. sudo rosdep init
16. rosdep update

    reading in sources list data from /etc/ros/rosdep/sources.list.d
    Hit https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/rosdep/osx-homebrew.yaml
    Hit https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/rosdep/base.yaml
    Hit https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/rosdep/python.yaml
    Hit https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/rosdep/ruby.yaml
    Hit https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/releases/fuerte.yaml
    Query rosdistro index https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/index-v4.yaml
    Skip end-of-life distro "ardent"
    Skip end-of-life distro "bouncy"
    Skip end-of-life distro "crystal"
    Skip end-of-life distro "dashing"
    Skip end-of-life distro "eloquent"
    Skip end-of-life distro "foxy"
    Skip end-of-life distro "galactic"
    Skip end-of-life distro "groovy"
    Add distro "humble"
    Skip end-of-life distro "hydro"
    Skip end-of-life distro "indigo"
    Add distro "iron"
    Skip end-of-life distro "jade"
    Add distro "jazzy"
    Skip end-of-life distro "kinetic"
    Skip end-of-life distro "lunar"
    Skip end-of-life distro "melodic"
    Add distro "noetic"
    Add distro "rolling"
    updated cache in /home/ubm/.ros/rosdep/sources.cache
    

Let's Create and Set-Up our Workspace

1. cd $HOME
2. rm -rf Music Pictures Public Templates Videos Documents
3. sudo usermod -aG input ubm
4. mkdir Software
5. mkdir -p f1tenth_ws/src
6. cd f1tenth_ws
7. colcon build

   ubm@ubm-bilbo:~/f1tenth_ws$ colcon build
   
   Summary: 0 packages finished [1.11s]
   

8. ssh-keygen Just press enter and leave everything as default

   Generating public/private rsa key pair.
   Enter file in which to save the key (/home/ubm/.ssh/id_rsa): 
   Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): 
   Enter same passphrase again: 
   Your identification has been saved in /home/ubm/.ssh/id_rsa
   Your public key has been saved in /home/ubm/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
   The key fingerprint is:
   SHA256:sdmSu2w/krGwt23PJB9jO0bYyATguRf+6u1x7d+Xq3U ubm@ubm-bilbo
   The key's randomart image is:
   +---[RSA 3072]----+
   |      ..         |
   |     . ..        |
   |      o o.       |
   |       o B.      |
   |      . So.+     |
   |      ...++ o.   |
   |       o.++.* ..E|
   |      ..*=oOo=..+|
   |       +**=+=ooo=|
   +----[SHA256]-----+
   

9. cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

   ssh-rsa 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 ubm@ubm-bilbo
   

10. Copy the output on the SSH and GPG keys of the github ubm-device account. Ask for the credentials.
11. cd ~/
12. git clone git@github.com:ubm-driverless/ubm-f1tenth.git repo
13. cat ~/repo/updated_bashrc.bash >> ~/.bashrc

Let's Build f1tenth_system

1. ln -s /home/ubm/repo/f1tenth_system/ /home/ubm/f1tenth_ws/src/
2. cd /home/ubm/f1tenth_ws/src/
3. git clone https://github.com/f1tenth/ackermann_mux.git
4. cd /home/ubm/f1tenth_ws
5. rosdep update --rosdistro="foxy"
6. rosdep install --from-paths src -i -y
7. colcon build

Let's Install Vnc

1. sudo apt install Xvfb x11vnc lxsession
2. sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/vnc.service
3. Write inside the file:

   [Unit]
   Description=Start Xvfb, LXDE, and x11vnc server
   After=network.target graphical.target
   Wants=network.target graphical.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=forking
   Environment=DISPLAY=:99
   ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "Xvfb :99 -screen 0 1024x768x24 & echo $! > /tmp/xvfb.pid; lxsession & echo $! > /tmp/lxsession.pid; x11vnc -display :99 -forever -nopw -xkb & echo $! > /tmp/x11vnc.pid"
   ExecStop=/bin/bash -c "kill -9 $(cat /tmp/xvfb.pid) $(cat /tmp/lxsession.pid) $(cat /tmp/x11vnc.pid)"
   PIDFile=/tmp/xvfb.pid
   Restart=always
   User=ubm
   WorkingDirectory=/home/ubm
   TimeoutStopSec=10
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

4. sudo systemctl daemon-reload

5. sudo systemctl start vnc.service

Let's Install JetsonGPIO

1. cd /home/ubm
2. git clone https://github.com/pjueon/JetsonGPIO
3. cd JetsonGPIO
4. mkdir build && cd build
5. cmake ..
6. sudo cmake --build . --target install

Let's Install sick_scan_xd

1. cd $HOME
2. cd Software
3. git clone https://github.com/SICKAG/libsick_ldmrs.git
4. git clone -b master https://github.com/SICKAG/sick_scan_xd.git
5. source /opt/ros/foxy/setup.bash
6. ln -s /home/ubm/Software/libsick_ldmrs/ /home/ubm/f1tenth_ws/src/
7. ln -s /home/ubm/Software/sick_scan_xd /home/ubm/f1tenth_ws/src/

   ubm@ubm-bilbo:~$ ls -l /home/ubm/f1tenth_ws/src/
   total 0
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 ubm ubm 33 nov 23 14:17 libsick_ldmrs -> /home/ubm/Software/libsick_ldmrs/
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 ubm ubm 31 nov 23 14:18 sick_scan_xd -> /home/ubm/Software/sick_scan_xd
   

Let's Build sick_scan_xd

1. cd ~/f1tenth_ws
2. sudo apt install ros-foxy-diagnostic-updater
3. src
4. colcon build --packages-select libsick_ldmrs --event-handlers console_direct+
5. src
6. colcon build --packages-select sick_scan_xd --cmake-args " -DROS_VERSION=2" --event-handlers console_direct+