Andino is a fully open-source diff drive robot designed for educational purposes and low-cost applications. It is fully integrated with ROS 2 and it is a great base platform to improve skills over the robotics field. With its open-source design, anyone can modify and customize the robot to suit their specific needs.

Note: For videos go to Media section.

:books: Package Summary

• :rocket: andino_bringup: Contains mainly launch files in order to launch all related driver and nodes to be used in the real robot.
• :robot: andino_hardware: Contains information about the Andino assembly and hardware parts.
• :ledger: andino_description: Contains the URDF description of the robot.
• :hammer_and_pick: andino_firmware: Contains the code be run in the microcontroller for interfacing low level hardware with the SBC.
• :gear: andino_base: ROS Control hardware interface is implemented.
• :control_knobs: andino_control: It launches the controller_manager along with the ros2 controllers: diff_drive_controller and the joint_state_broadcaster.
• :computer: andino_gz_classic: Gazebo Classic simulation of the andino robot.
• :world_map: andino_slam: Provides support for SLAM with your andino robot.
• :compass: andino_navigation: Navigation stack based on nav2.
• :exclamation: andino_apps: Integrated applications with the andino robot.

:paperclips: Related projects

Other projects built upon Andino! :rocket:

• :computer: andino_gz: Gazebo(non-classic) simulation of the andino robot.
• :lady_beetle: andino_webots: Webots simulation of the Andino robot fully integrated with ROS 2.
• :joystick: andino_o3de: O3DE simulation of the Andino robot.
• :green_circle: andino_isaac: Isaac Sim simulation of the Andino robot.
• :robot: andino_rmf: OpenRMF integration of Andino simulation.
• :test_tube: andino_integration_tests: Extension to the Andino robot showing how to build integration tests.

:busts_in_silhouette: Community

Join our Discord and contribute to the community!

:pick: Robot Assembly

Visit andino_hardware for assembly instructions.

:mechanical_arm: Installation

Platforms

• ROS 2: Humble Hawksbill
• OS:
  • Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish
  • Ubuntu Mate 22.04 (On real robot (e.g: Raspberry Pi 4B))

Build from Source

Dependencies

1. Install ROS 2
2. Install colcon

colcon workspace

Packages here provided are colcon packages. As such a colcon workspace is expected:

1. Create colcon workspace

mkdir -p ~/ws/src

1. Clone this repository in the src folder

cd ~/ws/src

git clone https://github.com/Ekumen-OS/andino.git

1. Install dependencies via rosdep

cd ~/ws

rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -i -y

1. Build the packages

colcon build

1. Finally, source the built packages If using bash:

source install/setup.bash

Note: Whether your are installing the packages in your dev machine or in your robot the procedure is the same.

Install the binaries

The packages have been also released via ROS package manager system for the ‘humble’ distro. You can check them here.

These packages can be installed using apt (e.g: sudo apt install ros-humble-andino-description) or using rosdep.

:rocket: Usage

Robot bringup

andino_bringup contains launch files that concentrates the process that brings up the robot.

After installing and sourcing the andino’s packages simply run.

ros2 launch andino_bringup andino_robot.launch.py

This launch files initializes the differential drive controller and brings ups the system to interface with ROS. By default sensors like the camera and the lidar are initialized. This can be disabled via arguments and manage each initialization separately. See ros2 launch andino_bringup andino_robot.launch.py -s for checking out the arguments.

• include_rplidar: true as default.
• include_camera: true as default.

After the robot is launched, use ROS 2 CLI for inspecting environment. For example, by doing ros2 topic list the available topics can be displayed:

/camera_info
/cmd_vel
/image_raw
/odom
/robot_description
/scan
/tf
/tf_static

Note: Showing just some of them

Teleoperation

Launch files for using the keyboard or a joystick for teleoperating the robot are provided.

Keyboard

ros2 launch andino_bringup teleop_keyboard.launch.py

This is similarly to just executing ros2 run teleop_twist_keyboard teleop_twist_keyboard.

Joystick

Using a joystick for teleoperating is notably better. You need the joystick configured as explained here.

ros2 launch andino_bringup teleop_joystick.launch.py

RViz

Use:

ros2 launch andino_bringup rviz.launch.py

For starting rviz2 visualization with a provided configuration.

:compass: Navigation

The andino_navigation package provides a navigation stack based on the great Nav2 package.

https://github.com/Ekumen-OS/andino/assets/53065142/29951e74-e604-4a6e-80fc-421c0c6d8fee

Follow the andino_navigation’s README instructions for bringing up the Navigation stack in the real robot or in the simulation.

:computer: Simulation

Within the Andino ecosystem simulations on several platforms are provided:

• andino_gz_classic - (To be deprecated as of Jazzy)
• andino_gz - Recommended
• andino_webots
• andino_o3de
• andino_isaac

:selfie: Media

RVIZ Visualization

https://github.com/Ekumen-OS/andino/assets/53065142/c9878894-1785-4b81-b1ce-80e07a27effd

Slam

Using the robot for mapping.

https://github.com/Ekumen-OS/andino/assets/53065142/283f4afd-0f9a-4d37-b71f-c9d7b2f3e453

https://github.com/Ekumen-OS/andino/assets/53065142/d73f6053-b422-4334-8f62-029a38799e66

See andino_slam for more information.

:robot: Share your Andino!

Have you built your Andino already? Please go to Show & Tell Discussion and share with us your own version of it.

:star2: Inspirational sources

This section is dedicated to recognizing and expressing gratitude to the open-source repositories that have served as a source of inspiration for this project. We highly recommend exploring these repositories for further inspiration and learning.

• articubot_one
• diffbot
• noah_hardware
• linorobot

:raised_hands: Contributing

Issues or PRs are always welcome! Please refer to CONTRIBUTING doc.

Code development

Note that a Docker folder is provided for easy setting up the workspace.

Contributing

Contributing to Andino

The following is a set of guidelines for contributing to Andino project. These are mostly guidelines, not rules. Use your best judgment, and feel free to propose changes to this document in a pull request.

Code of Conduct

This project and everyone participating in it is governed by the CODE OF CONDUCT. By participating, you are expected to uphold this code.

How to Contribute

Reporting Bugs

Before Submitting a Bug Report

1. Determine the repository which should receive the problem.
2. Search the repository’s issues to see if the same or similar problem has been opened. If it has and the issue is still open, then add a comment to the existing issue. Otherwise, create a new issue.

How to Submit a Good Bug Report

Create an issue on the repository that is related to your bug, explain the problem, and include additional details to help maintainers reproduce the problem. Refer to the `Short, Self Contained, Correct (Compilable), Example Guide as well as the following tips:

• Use a clear and descriptive title for the issue to identify the problem.
• Describe the exact steps which reproduce the problem in as many details as possible. When listing steps, don’t just say what you did, but explain how you did it.
• Provide specific examples to demonstrate the steps. Include links to files or projects, or copy/pasteable snippets, which you use in those examples.
• Describe the behavior you observed after following the steps and point out what exactly is the problem with that behavior.
• Explain which behavior you expected to see instead and why.
• Include screenshots and animated GIFs which show you following the described steps and clearly demonstrate the problem.
• If the problem wasn’t triggered by a specific action, describe what you were doing before the problem happened and share more information using the guidelines below.

Provide more context by answering these questions:

• Did the problem start happening recently (e.g. after updating to a new version) or was this always a problem?
• If the problem started happening recently, can you reproduce the problem in an older version? What’s the most recent version in which the problem doesn’t happen?
• Can you reliably reproduce the issue? If not, provide details about how often the problem happens and under which conditions it normally happens.

Include details about your configuration and environment:

• Which version of Andino are you using??
• What’s the name and version of the OS you’re using?
• Are you running Andino using the provided docker container? See docker.
• Are you running Andino in a virtual machine? If so, which VM software are you using and which operating systems and versions are used for the host and the guest?

Suggesting Enhancements

This section guides you through submitting an enhancement suggestion, including completely new features and minor improvements to existing functionality. Following these guidelines helps maintainers and the community understand your suggestion and find related suggestions.

Before creating enhancement suggestions, please check before-submitting-a-bug-report as you might find out that you don’t need to create one. When you are creating an enhancement suggestion, please include as many details as possible. When filling in the issue form for an enhancement suggestion, include the steps that you imagine you would take if the feature you’re requesting existed.

Before Submitting An Enhancement Suggestion

• Check if you’re using the latest software version. A more recent version may contain your desired feature.
• Determine which repository the enhancement should be suggested in
• Perform a cursory search to see if the enhancement has already been suggested. If it has, add a comment to the existing issue instead of opening a new one.

How Do I Submit A (Good) Enhancement Suggestion

Enhancement suggestions are tracked as GitHub issues. After you’ve determined which repository your enhancement suggestion is related to, create an issue on that repository and provide the following information:

• Use a clear and descriptive title for the issue to identify the suggestion.
• Provide a step-by-step description of the suggested enhancement in as many details as possible.
• Provide specific examples to demonstrate the steps. Include copy/pasteable snippets which you use in those examples, as Markdown code blocks.
• Describe the current behavior and explain which behavior you expected to see instead and why.
• Include screenshots and animated GIFs which show you following the described steps and clearly demonstrate the problem.
• Explain why this enhancement would be useful to most users and isn’t something that can or should be implemented as a separate application.
• Specify which version of Andino you’re using.
• Specify the name and version of the OS you’re using.

Contributing Code

We follow a development process designed to reduce errors, encourage collaboration, and make high quality code. Review the following to get acquainted with this development process.

#. Read the reporting_bugs and suggesting_enhancements sections first.

#. Fork the Andino package you want to contribute to. This will create your own personal copy of the package. All of your development should take place in your fork.

• An important thing to do is create a remote pointing to the upstream remote repository. This way, you can always check for modifications on the original repository and always keep your fork repository up to date.

#. Work out of a new branch, one that is not a release / main branch. This is a good habit to get in, and will make your life easier.

#. Write your code. To remember:

• Look at the existing code and try to maintain the existing style and pattern as much as possible
• Always keep your branch updated with the original repository

Process

All Andino team members actively:

• Watch all Andino-related repositories to receive email notifications of new issues / pull requests
• Provide feedback to issues as soon as possible

• Review pull requests as soon as possible

  • Team members can review pull requests already under review or approved
  • Team members can provide some feedback without doing a full review

Pull requests can be merged when:

• They have at least 1 approval from a member of the core team
• There are no unresolved comments
• CI is passing

• Developer Certificate of Origin(DCO) check is passing

  • DCO is a declaration of ownership, basically saying that you created the contribution and that it is suitable to be covered under an open source license (not proprietary).
  • All you have to do is end your commit message with Signed-off-by: Your Full Name your.name@email.com
  • If your user.name and user.email configurations are set up in git, then you can simply run git commit -s to have your signature automatically appended.

Merging strategy:

• For internal contributions, give the original author some time to hit the merge button themselves / check directly with them if it’s ok to merge.
• Default to “squash and merge”
  • Review the pull request title and reword if necessary since this will be part of the commit message.
  • Make sure the commit message concisely captures the core ideas of the pull request and contains all authors’ signatures.