The software install for the Jetson RACECAR is a multi-step process. Looky here:
Background
There are a couple of different ways to install the software for the Jetson RACECAR. The MIT RACECAR repository on Github has instructions on how to directly install their software from a conveniently provided disk image. For the purposes of the Jetson RACECAR, we will build the entire software stack which includes flashing the Jetson RACECAR with JetPack, and loading ROS. This process takes a couple of hours depending on your Internet connection speeds.
The procedures here to prepare the Jetson RACECAR for software development have all been covered on JetsonHacks before, but the difference here is that we string them all together.
For the purposes of this development project, we added a 120GB SSD with a cable to the RACECAR. Looky here:
Installation
In this article, the Host PC refers to a PC that is running Ubuntu. The Jetson RACECAR is the Jetson onboard the RACECAR itself. In the current RACECAR, this is a Jetson TX1. The PC is used to run JetPack, an installer which flashes the Jetson RACECAR with Linux 4 Tegra (L4T) and various useful libraries. Article references are provided for more detailed instructions.
Note: We’re working on the Jetson RACECAR side of the install, there is also a PC Host side which will come later in the series.
Before we start installing the software, we partition and format the SSD. We start with:
$ sudo parted /dev/sda/ mklabel gpt
and then create a partition and format using the Disks app.
Once the SSD is prepared, we set the SSD as the root directory, as described here. We’re then ready to start building our software development environment on the RACECAR.
Here’s the software installation sequence:
On the Host PC:
- Use JetPack from a Host PC to flash the Jetson with L4T. We’re using a Jetson TX1, so we select that option in the installer.
- We use JetPack to install all of the specialized libraries listed, but do not choose to compile the samples.
On the Jetson RACECAR
- Download the Linux kernel source for the Jetson RACECAR.
- Build a custom kernel.
- Load driver for Stereolabs ZED camera.
- Install Robot Operating System (ROS).
- Create a Catkin Workspace. We name this one ‘racecar-ws’
If you are familiar with Jetson software development, there are not any surprises here. If you’re new to all this, read through the linked articles and watch the associated videos to become familiar with the subject matter.
Conclusion
With the prepared development environment, now we can start building the actual Jetson RACECAR packages for ROS so that we can start to command the car to do our bidding!
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