Note: This is an email query I received from an undergraduate student who wanted to ask me about how to get into robotics research (SLAM and path planning). I am …
How To: Using SuiteSparse for solving Ax = b or Generalized Least Squares
SuiteSparse by Tim Davis is a high quality sparse linear algebra library written in C that provides CHOLMOD which allows you to solve Ax=b ( in MATLAB CHOLMOD is used for …
A practical introduction to pose-graph SLAM with ROS
Note: This is a live article and as I get time I will update it… In this post, we are going to understand the pose-graph SLAM approach with ROS where …
How To: Building financial stability and grow your money
Disclaimer: I’m not a certified financial adviser and by no means should this article be construed as financial advice and should not be relied upon in making or refraining from making, …
How To: Get ground truth pose data in ROS Gazebo
Sometimes you might need to get the robot’s actual position to compare your state estimation code. Copy paste the contents of this file (plugin_code) into your urdf description file. It …
Can a robot drive 100s of Kilometers with < 1 m Error without GPS?
A considerably difficult aspect of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is the problem of uncertainty constrained long term point-to-point navigation where global loop closures to eliminate estimation biases may not …
How To: Running Ubuntu and ROS in a Virtual Machine on macOS / OS X with 3D Acceleration (Gazebo)
I primarily use a Mac for my work, but since a I do a lot of robotics I have to switch over to Ubuntu to use ROS. Having a linux …
The Best Way to Convert Latex Math Equations into Word Equations
Sometimes you just have to face the absolute horror of having to convert your beautiful latex documents into word. As an engineer your biggest worry is, oh crap, will my …
How To: Get depth (X,Y,Z) of a 2D pixel from PointCloud2 or Kinect Data
Surprisingly there is no clear cut instruction anywhere. My questions was, if I tracked an image feature from the Kinect, how would I know its 3D position? I wanted to …
How To: Setup Turtlebot Simulator in ROS with Gazebo
Important note: Do not buy parts or equipment from Dabit Industries, they are extremely incompetent and will take ages to ship parts that will be incomplete and you’ll be left …