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 …
How To Setup Kinect with ROS and RGBD SLAM
I recently setup a Kinect with ROS for SLAM but the instructions are all spread out. So, in this tutorial we go through the steps required to setup a Microsoft …
Fix CodeBlocks Freezing In Ubuntu
Code::Blocks is a great light IDE for C++ but somehow has a tendency to crap out and hang after every minor operation in Ubuntu 14.04 (at least this is where …
Munkres Topology Solutions
Solutions to Munkres (2000) Topology, Second Edition. textbook can be found at http://dbfin.com/topology/munkres/ Useful for engineers since topology can be pretty heavy for engineers!
Autonomous Flight for Parrot AR Drone
Somebody recently watched this video of my previous research and asked me: “I saw a YouTube video of a project you did, and I’m fascinated with making a drone autonomous. I …