Boat not moving about singaboat-vrx

[Tinker-Twins]

Problem 1: Path to Launch Files

We have modified the task_manager_config file with updated paths that point to correct launch files. This was not an issue during the competition since we used a slightly different directory structure for the competition submission, but thanks a lot for pointing it out!

Problem 2: ASV not Moving

The vrx launch files spawn ASV with a different (default) URDF and not the one that we have defined for our team's ASV (which uses different namespaces for sensors and thrusters). Hence, the solution scripts are publishing/subscribing data to/from different topics while the simulated ASV is publishing/subscribing data to/from different topics. Again, this was not an issue during the competition since the organizers would build and replace the ASV based on each team's robot description (URDF) and then proceed with simulation, but thanks for pointing it out!

Thus, in order to get the desired output, you can point the launch file to the correct path of ASV URDF in the following way:

$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo <TASK_NAME>.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf

$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo station_keeping.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf
$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo wayfinding.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf
$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo perception_task.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf
$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo wildlife.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf
$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo gymkhana.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf
$ roslaunch vrx_gazebo scan_dock_deliver.launch urdf:=$(rospack find singaboat_vrx)/urdf/singaboat.urdf

We have updated the README of the repository as well to avoid this issue.

Alternatively, you can also refer the README within singaboat_vrx directory, wherein we have elaborately discussed how to launch each task and its corresponding solution using a single launch file (which does not cause this issue).

[jaredsjohansen]

Works like a charm! Thanks for the explanation and fix!

For anyone else using this, there was only one super minor hiccup. When I ran this command, I got the following error:

jared@jared-XPS-8950:~/VRX_Workspace$ roslaunch singaboat_vrx singaboat_vrx.launch
RLException: multiple files named [singaboat_vrx.launch] in package [singaboat_vrx]:
- /home/jared/VRX_Workspace/src/SINGABOAT-VRX/singaboat_vrx/launch/singaboat_vrx.launch
- /home/jared/VRX_Workspace/src/SINGABOAT-VRX/singaboat_vrx/launch/submissions/singaboat_vrx.launch
Please specify full path instead
The traceback for the exception was written to the log file

I could either remove this file: .../submissions/singaboat_vrx.launch or provide the full path. I provided the full path and things worked great:

jared@jared-XPS-8950:~/VRX_Workspace$ roslaunch /home/jared/VRX_Workspace/src/SINGABOAT-VRX/singaboat_vrx/launch/singaboat_vrx.launch

Thanks again, @Tinker-Twins, for the fix! And great work on an easy-to-use solution!

[Tinker-Twins]

Thanks a lot for your generous words! We strive towards creating easy-to-follow and easy-to-use content for others in the community, and comments like yours really make it all worthwhile!

The error that you mentioned seems to have osccured since you probably copied the launch file(s) from the submissions directory to the launch directory earlier (as a way to fix the issue associated with launch file paths), thereby creating two instances of the same launch file(s). However, the upstream repository has a single instance of launch file(s) and therefore should not cause this problem.

I believe cleaning your project, freshly cloning the upstream repository and building the code should solve all your problems.

[jaredsjohansen]

Sounds good -- thanks!