Kobuki FTDI

[How it Works][Is it just Working?][Flashing the Device]

This package provides tools for factory-flashing the FTDI usb-to-serial device on a kobuki or for troubleshooting thereafter.

It is not a necessary dependency for actually running a kobuki.

How it Works

Kobuki’s FTDI chip is flashed with a special identifier that allows programs to uniquely identify the device as a kobuki. This in turn allows for udev rules that conveniently establish it’s presence in a *nix filesystem under /dev/kobuki.

Is it just Working?

Does kobuki appear as USB device?

> lsusb
0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC

Do you see it in dmesg when you insert the usb cable?

> dmesg
[  118.984126] usb 3-1: new full-speed USB device number 5 using xhci_hcd
[  119.139253] usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6001
[  119.139257] usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[  119.139259] usb 3-1: Product: iClebo Kobuki
[  119.139261] usb 3-1: Manufacturer: Yujin Robot
[  119.139263] usb 3-1: SerialNumber: kobuki_A505QO28
[  119.150240] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic
[  119.150249] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for generic
[  119.152383] usbcore: registered new interface driver ftdi_sio
[  119.152403] usbserial: USB Serial support registered for FTDI USB Serial Device
[  119.152505] ftdi_sio 3-1:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
[  119.152530] usb 3-1: Detected FT232RL
[  119.152665] usb 3-1: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0

and when you remove it?

[  184.386124] usb 3-1: USB disconnect, device number 5
[  184.386507] ftdi_sio ttyUSB0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
[  184.386547] ftdi_sio 3-1:1.0: device disconnected

Get the serial number:

> sudo <install_path>/lib/kobuki_ftdi/get_serial_number
1 device(s) found.

Device #0
  Manufacturer : Yujin Robot
  Product      : iClebo Kobuki
  Serial Number: kobuki_A505QO28

Trouble Shooting

• No /dev/kobuki:

# copy across udev rules
> sudo cp 60-kobuki.rules /etc/udev/rules.d
> sudo service udev reload
> sudo service udev restart

• Does kobuki stream data?

Check if anything is streaming - even when you don’t have a program explicitly connected, you should see a stream of unusual characters.

> cat /dev/kobuki 

If you don’t have any streaming, check that your kernel has the ftdi_sio kernel driver built. Refer to https://github.com/yujinrobot/kobuki_core/issues/24 for more discussion.

• Everything seems fine, yet I still can’t get the kobuki driver to communicate with it. You may not be in the correct group:

> sudo addgroup $(USER) dialout

Flashing the Device

Only do this if you are at the factory or you are very certain it is necessary. This should rarely need to be done outside of the factory.

# Flash
> sudo <install_location>/lib/kobuki_ftdi/flasher
# Check the serial number again
> sudo <install_path>/lib/kobuki_ftdi/get_serial_number
1 device(s) found.

Device #0
  Manufacturer : Yujin Robot
  Product      : iClebo Kobuki
  Serial Number: kobuki_A505QO28

Changelog

Forthcoming

• ...

1.0.0 (2020-01-14)

• [infra] v1 release
• [read] bugfix to process errors on return from ftdi_read_eeprom

0.9.0 (2020-01-09)

• migrated from kobuki_core to a standalone repo (flashing/troubleshooting purposes only)

0.8.0 (2020-01-09)

• build rules updated for ament

0.7.8 (2017-04-02)

• debian postinstall script for kobuki's udev rule

0.7.5 (2017-03-03)

• bugfixing the missing pkg-config dependency

0.7.3 (2017-02-23)

• bugfix the missing prefix in the pkg_search_module calls

0.6.1 (2015-05-27)

• remove kobuki_ros kobuki_nodelet libaries export in catkin_package closes #16
• Contributors: Jihoon Lee

0.6.0 (2014-08-04)

• Fix compilation.
  • fix the names of the pkg-config libraries of libusb and libftdi. I checked on Ubuntu and OS X.
  • ftdi-eeprom is not a library and has no pkg-config file.
• Update the readme in kobuki_ftdi
• Create README.md
• kobuki_ftdi : Updated doxygen document.
• Contributors: Jihoon Lee, Nikolaus Demmel, Younghun Ju

0.5.3 (2013-09-06)

0.5.2 (2013-08-31)

0.5.1 (2013-08-30)

• Updated license info.

0.5.0 (2013-08-29)

• Added extra url info on all packages.
• Updated old rnd email address.
• Fix URL to the previous changelog wiki.
• Changelogs at package level.

0.4.0 (2013-08-09)

Previous versions, bugfixing

Available in ROS wiki: http://ros.org/wiki/kobuki/ChangeList