¶ Windows
In windows you can use virtualization tools like VirtualBox to setup ROS 2 environement and use Olive products. Windows natively supports RNDIS (Remote Network Driver Interface Specification) but not ECM (Ethernet Control Model), which is commonly used in Linux or macOS environments for USB networking via the USB CDC class. We have switched to ECM to have a better support on MAC and Linux and in Windows you can direct connect your device to VirtualBox and have the topics. We have a feature to switch between RNDIS or ECM from paramters in Olive Components.
If you are using USB version of Olive Components, please make sure the usb_protocol from manager is set to RNDIS. If you are using Linux or MacOS change this back to ECM.
You change this via ROS 2 params in manager or using RQT and Plugins -> Dynamic Reconfigure.
¶ Oracle® VM VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a powerful, open-source, cross-platform virtualization software developed by Oracle Corporation. It enables users to create and run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical computer, effectively mimicking the functionality of multiple separate computers running different operating systems. This allows users to test and develop software, run legacy applications, or experiment with new operating systems without the need for additional hardware. VirtualBox is widely used by developers, IT professionals, and enthusiasts for its ease of use, flexibility, and extensive feature set, making it a valuable tool for managing and deploying diverse computing environments.
¶ Olive® VBox Image
You can download a preconfigured Virtual Box image from here:
The username and password for this instance is "olive" and "one".
¶ Quick Setup (Windows)
- First install the Virtualbox on your host computer (https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/7.0.8/VirtualBox-7.0.8-156879-Win.exe)
- To be able to communicate with Olive Component through Virtualbox you have to first connect the Olive component to your host computer and make sure you can ping the device successfully. You should aslo see the network adapter on your windows.
ping 192.168.7.1
Pinging 192.168.7.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.7.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.7.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.7.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
- Check the name of your olive network on windows, in our example the name is "Remote NDIS Compatible Device #9":
- Then open your Virtualbox's settings and go to "Network". You can only add networks when the geust OS is off so shutdown the geust Ubuntu then come back here!. One you could add a Network adapter, select Attached to: "Bridged Adapter", then Name: "Remote NDIS Compatible Device #9" (The same name in step2).
- Then go to your guest Ubuntu and set a static IP for your machine. It should be in the same range of Olive component's IP (10.42.0.X), here we selected 10.42.0.101. Network configuration is located in the Settings menu in Ubuntu.
- Then disable and enable the network adapter in Ubuntu by the slider checkbox. Now you should be able to ping your device from the Virtual Ubuntu.
ping 192.168.7.1
PING 192.168.7.1 (192.168.7.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.7.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.53 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.7.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.869 ms
--- 192.168.7.1 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.869/1.198/1.528/0.329 ms
- Now you can use all the ROS2 related tools here. For example you can see the topics with:
ros2 topic list
/olive/actuator/pan/goal/position
/olive/actuator/pan/joint
/olive/actuator/pan/joint/voltage
/olive/actuator/pan/led
/olive/actuator/pan/magnet/angle
/olive/actuator/pan/magnet/auto_gain
/olive/actuator/pan/magnet/diagnostic
/olive/actuator/pan/magnet/magnitude
/olive/actuator/pan/magnet/moving_average
/olive/actuator/pan/status
/olive/actuator/pan/switch
/parameter_events
/rosout
¶ MacOS
Parallels Desktop is a powerful virtualization software that allows users to run Windows, Linux, and other operating systems seamlessly alongside macOS on a Mac computer. It's particularly popular among professionals and developers who need access to multiple platforms without rebooting. With features like Coherence Mode, users can run Windows applications as if they were native Mac apps, making the workflow smoother and more integrated. Parallels also supports features like drag-and-drop between systems, shared folders, and hardware acceleration, ensuring high performance and ease of use. Whether you're testing software, running legacy applications, or gaming, Parallels Desktop offers a flexible and efficient solution for cross-platform computing.
¶ Step 1: Disable the USB watchdog in the Olive Component
First make sure using a normal Linux computer you have disabled the usb_watchdog_service from parameters. You can get more infromation regarding ROS 2 params and RQT here:
¶ Step 2: Connect to Parallel Desktop
When you connect Olive Component, select the guest operating system. Here select the virtual Linux (Ubuntu 22.04).
¶ Step 3: Give a static IP to your device
Make sure the computer has the default staic ip address (192.168.7.200).
¶ Step 4: Then you can see the topics using ROS 2 commands
You can also open the GUI and see the dashboard or use the terminal to see the topics
¶ Linux
Ubuntu 22.04 with ROS 2 Humble and Ubuntu 24.04 with ROS 2 Jazzy are both fully supported by Olive Robotics components, ensuring smooth integration and optimal performance across both LTS platforms. Whether using IMUs, AI-powered camera sensors, or EdgeROS drivers, all Olive Robotics hardware and software modules operate flawlessly on these distributions. The ROS 2 native design of the components guarantees plug-and-play compatibility, and key features such as real-time data streaming, sensor fusion, and neural network inference are thoroughly tested and stable on both setups. This flexibility allows developers and roboticists to choose the distribution that best fits their project timeline or ecosystem without compromising on reliability or performance.
ROS 2 Humble is preinstalled and working in all Olive Components as default, but if you need to activate ROS 2 Jazzy and use Ubuntu 24.04 please follow this steps:
¶ Installing the Jazzy Build for Olive Components
Follow these steps to install and activate the Jazzy ROS 2 distro on your Olive Component:
¶ 1. Download the Latest Software Patch and Jazzy Build
a. Make sure you are using the latest software patch (Patch > 1787)
https://olive-robotics.com/docs2/patch-update/
b. Download the prebuilt Jazzy package from the Olive Robotics website:
wget https://olive-robotics.com/uploads/patch/jazzy.zip¶ 2. Upload to Olive Component
Transfer the file to your Olive Component over SCP:
scp jazzy.zip olive@192.168.7.100:¶ 3. SSH into the Device
Access your device via SSH (password is one):
ssh olive@192.168.7.100¶ 4. Extract and Install
Unzip and move the Jazzy distribution to the ROS 2 directory:
unzip jazzy.zip
sudo mv jazzy /opt/ros2/
rm jazzy.zip¶ 5. Restart the Device
Reboot or restart the Olive Component to apply changes:
sudo reboot¶ 6. Activate Jazzy in the GUI
- Open the GUI for Olive Component.
- In the Distro dropdown menu, select Jazzy.
- Click Save All in All Settings.
The device will reboot once again to finalize the switch. After reboot, the IMU will start publishing using the native Jazzy distro.